The Pentagon has cleared the top US commander in Afghanistan of wrongdoing following an probe into whether he exchanged inappropriate e-mails with a Tampa socialite. The investigation was launched following revelation that Gen. John R Allen exchanged the messages with Jill Kelley, 37, who ingratiated herself with several senior officers at the Tampa headquarters of the U.S. Central Command. Kelley’s complaint to the FBI about another set of messages — ones that were harassing — eventually led to the discovery of an affair between the then CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell. The FBI determined that Broadwell, for reasons still not clear, had sent Kelley the harassing e-mails. The messages from Marine Gen Allen were uncovered during its investigation of Petraeus last year. According to The Washington Post, the tenor of some of the e-mails was described by some officials as racy and flirtatious and prompted Defence Secretary Leon E. Panetta to order a formal inquiry. In a letter sent to Allen on Friday, the Pentagon inspector general wrote that Allen had not violated military prohibitions against conduct unbecoming an officer.
