US envoy to Germany refuses to apologize over Wikileaks revelations

Berlin, Nov 30, IRNA -- US Ambassador to Germany Philip Murphy on Tuesday refused to apologize for sending cables from Berlin which involved scathing statements about German political leaders.

Asked by the news magazine Der Spiegel about the publication of confidential and critical US diplomatic cables that has seriously harmed the relationship between Germany and the US, Murphy replied, 'I'm a big boy. At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. I worry about my people. They have done nothing wrong. I am not going to apologize for one speck of what they've done.'

US embassy briefs said Westerwelle's foreign policy thoughts were 'short on substance,' and referred to his 'aggressive temperament.'

The German foreign minister was also viewed as incompetent by Murphy.
Of Merkel, America's top diplomat in Germany wrote, 'Avoids risk, not very creative.'

The leaks also exposed that an insider kept the US Embassy informed during coalition talks last year, as Merkel's present government was being formed.

Germany had voiced 'regret' over the publication of the classified US documents.

Meanwhile, former US ambassador to Germany John Kornblum stressed the
publication was a violation of diplomatic trust.
'Diplomacy ... must work on the basis of trust, and if that trust is broken, as is now the case, then of course you need to start back at zero,' Kornblum told the German public television.

Kornblum also said that in future, international diplomacy would have to be conducted differently.

'The era when you could speak confidentially and say, 'Don't worry, this won't appear in the papers' - that era is over,' the highly respected former US diplomat was quoted saying./end