WASHINGTON, Jumada II 17, 1433, May 8, 2012, SPA - Rick Santorum, who bowed out of the Republican nominating contest after capturing 11 states and some 3 million votes, endorsed Mitt Romney late Monday. In a letter to his supporters, the former Pennsylvania senator said that he was impressed with Romney’s “commitment to economic policies that preserve and strengthen families.” “He clearly understands that having pro-family initiatives are not only the morally and economically right thing to do, but that the family is the basic building block of our society and must be preserved,” Santorum wrote in the letter e-mailed to supporters. --SPA 11:45 LOCAL TIME 08:45 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/996100