Future of U.S. ambassador to Libya unclear

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The future of the U.S. ambassador to Libya was being discussed in Washington Thursday after his diplomatic cables were leaked, State Department officials said.

In messages written by Ambassador Gene Cretz in Tripoli, he describes Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as "mercurial and eccentric" and describes the steady presence of a "voluptuous" Ukrainian woman as a companion, CNN reported.

An unidentified State Department official told the broadcaster Libya had complained about the remarks, released by the WikiLeaks organization.

State spokesman P.J. Crowley said Cretz remains the ambassador but was called back to Washington.

"One of the issues we will be discussing with Ambassador Cretz is his return to Libya," Crowley said.

Another official said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had no plans to tone down diplomatic candor because it is valuable, CNN said.

"We are not going to change who we are or what we do," the official said. "Some governments have told us they are going to be less candid in the future and that is something that the secretary has made clear we will just have to work through over time."