MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to
Mexico has resigned, the State Department said Saturday,
after a public dispute with Mexican President Filipe Calderon
over Mexico's handling of efforts to combat drug trafficking.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she and
President Barack Obama had accepted Ambassador Carlos Pascual's
resignation after a year and a half in his post
"It is with great reluctance that President Obama and I
have acceded to Carlos's request," Clinton said in a
statement.
The diplomatic spat arose after the website WikiLeaks
published State Department documents showing embassy officials
criticizing Mexican authorities' lack of coordination in
operations targeting powerful drug cartels.
Calderon lashed out in an unusually critical newspaper
interview with the daily El Universal on Feb. 22, saying
Pascual had shown "ignorance" about current events and
distorted what was happening in the country.
The United States is providing millions of dollars in aid
to Mexican security forces battling drug gangs and the two
countries have long lauded their security cooperation and close
economic ties.
"Carlos has relayed his decision to return to Washington
based upon his personal desire to ensure the strong
relationship between our two countries and to avert issues
raised by President Calderon that could distract from the
important business of advancing our bilateral interests," the
statement said.
(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg)
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