Leaked wires show undiplomatic US take on leaders

Wikileaks WASHINGTON: Diplomats are by definition known for the niceties of their public statements, but leaked documents out Sunday show that US officials can be merciless in their assessments behind closed doors.

The thousands of secret cables released by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks feature unflattering descriptions of the leaders of both US allies and adversaries.

Here are some of the more colorful descriptions, as found in the leaked documents:

-- ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI. A senior US diplomat described him as "feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader." Another cable called him "physically and politically weak" and said he did not rest properly because of his late-night partying.

-- AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI. A cable described Karzai as "extremely weak" and prone to being persuaded by conspiracy theories. Karzai has had a rocky relationship with US President Barack Obama.

-- LIBYAN LEADER MOAMER KADHAFI. A cable says Kadhafi is "almost obsessively dependent on a small core of trusted personnel" and reportedly cannot travel without a particular "voluptuous" Ukrainian nurse. Kadhafi is said to suffer from fears of flying over water and staying on upper floors of buildings.

-- RUSSIAN PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV. Despite officially being the head of state and above Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the US embassy in Moscow says Medvedev "plays Robin to Putin's Batman."

-- GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL. A document called her "risk averse and rarely creative." Her vice chancellor and foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, is said to have an "exuberant personality" but little foreign policy know-how.

-- FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY. The US embassy called him "thin-skinned and authoritarian," pointing to his rebukes of his team.

-- YEMENI PRESIDENT ALI ABDULLAH SALEH. A cable said he came off as "dismissive, bored and impatient" during a meeting with John Brennan, Obama's counter-terrorism aide. Yemen is emerging as a front line in US efforts against Islamic extremists.

-- ZIMBABWE'S PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE. "To give the devil his due, he is a brilliant tactitian (sic)," outgoing US ambassador Christopher Dell wrote in 2007, saying Mugabe has survived because he is "more clever and more ruthless than any other politician in Zimbabwe."