In one such memo, a top embassy diplomat said that Mr. Suleiman told the ambassador, "Egypt is America's partner".
"Expanding and improving the Afghan National Police so it can meet the many security and governance challenges...remains one of the greatest challenges facing the Afghan Government, the United States and our international partners," wrote Joseph A. Mussomeli, a top embassy official.
During Mr Maduro's TV announcement he shouted in English, "Yankees go home!" Those expelled by the authorities were Charge D'Affaires Kelly Keiderling, the top embassy official in the absence of an ambassador, consular officer David Moo and Elizabeth Hoffman, who works in the embassy's political section.
The senior official said the committee had never interviewed Mr. Withers or other top embassy personnel, and released the information on Monday to fan interest in a committee hearing on the company's business dealings scheduled for Tuesday.
Mr. Stevens was considered for a top post at the embassy in Damascus, the Syrian capital, before he decided to go to Libya.
So a top priority for the embassy – diplomats and communicators alike – is to reassure the Spanish government, opinion formers and media that the UK continues to be fully engaged in the EU, has credible ideas for reform that will benefit all Europeans, and wants to be part of a Europe that is more open, competitive, flexible and democratically accountable.
"The Russians lie and can't be trusted, but in this case they may have a reason to be responsible," said a top official at one Middle East embassy.
And the expected arrival in Seoul of a top North Korean defector, Hwang Jang Yop, who recently applied for asylum at the South Korean embassy in Beijing, could provide President Kim with further election-year ammunition.
A cable from the top U.S. embassy official (the chargé d'affaires) in Damascus in December 2006 offers suggestions for how Washington could exacerbate and take advantage of certain "vulnerabilities" of the government of Syria.
The administration welcomed scrutiny of the security of American embassies, Joshua Earnest, the White House deputy press secretary, said to reporters on Sunday, insisting that the safety of diplomats was a top priority for Mr. Obama.
In 2009, according to a secret American embassy cable, a top-ranking US official visited Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, to communicate in person Washington's urgent push to "prevent nuclear-residue material from falling into terrorists' hands".
