Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella has confirmed with this newsroom that Marisa Micallef, who served as Malta's ambassador to Washington, stepped down from her post.

When asked by The Malta Independent whether there was a particular reason for this, Dr Vella said that people are free to decide when to terminate their engagement and we respect each and every decision.

Pressed by this newsroom for a reason, Dr Vella said: "I am being honest, I have no clue to why she stepped down."

In August, blogger and The Malta Independent columnist Daphne CaruanaGalizia had claimed that Ms Micallef hadn't resigned but was fired following what she described as a "terrible row with senior Foreign Ministry officials in which she insulted those officials and told them that they couldn't touch her or remove her".

In reply, Ms Micallef said she is "taking legal action against all those who have stated that I was in any way fired or asked to step down.

"As the Minister correctly stated I chose to leave myself.

"Stating otherwise is categorically untrue.

"There was also no fight with ministry officials..of any sort," Ms Micallef said.

Another person nominated for post

When asked who will be replacing Ms Micallef, Dr Vella said: We have nominated an individual but diplomatic protocol or etiquette prevents us from revealing who the person is until the host country, in this case the US, accepts the nomination".

When asked to say when the person who is set to replace Ms Micallef will start, Dr Vella said that "some countries take weeks, others take months to decide on whether they will be accepting the nominated person".