US ambassador to Mexico quits after WikiLeaks revelation

The US ambassador to Mexico resigned amid a furore over a leaked diplomatic cable in which he complained about inefficiency and in-fighting among Mexican security forces in the campaign against drug cartels.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Carlos Pascual’s decision to step down was “based upon his personal desire to ensure the strong relationship between our two countries and to avert issues” raised by President Felipe Calderon.

A furious Mr Calderon has publicly criticised Mr Pascual’s cable, which was divulged by the WikiLeaks website.

Mr Pascual’s resignation appears to be the biggest fallout yet from thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables from around the world released by WikiLeaks.