US Embassy staff were pressured to set a date for Prime Minister John Key to meet President Barack Obama - because media had already been told the meeting was on.
A leaked US Embassy cable from February details an impromptu meeting
between ambassador David Huebner and Key.
The cable shows Key pushing for a firm meeting date with Obama after
speaking with him at the 2009 APEC meeting in Singapore.
"Key said the exchanges resulted in him briefing the press in a certain way about the `invitation', which he said he would not have done
if he had thought the offer were actually more casual and indefinite.
"Expectations in NZ were set, Key said, and the matter potentially could turn into a political embarrassment for him. Key noted that his June schedule was `still empty'."
WikiLeaks: PM plays power games with President Obama
Photo / Natalie Slade
Herald on Sunday senior staffers David Fisher and Jonathan Milne have obtained a 250,000-word dossier of secret WikiLeaks cables. The vast collection will embarrass some politicians but raises key issues of national security. All of the cables will be uploaded to nzherald.co.nz over the next few days.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
