Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, said Wednesday she would seek to stay on as the chamber's Democratic minority leader, proclaiming there is "so much more I want to do."

"I have made the decision to submit my name to my colleagues to once again serve as the House Democratic leader," Pelosi told reporters as she stood shoulder to shoulder with more than 50 women Democratic representatives.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed his "full confidence" Wednesday in General John Allen, the head of alliance forces in Afghanistan who has been dragged into the scandal that toppled CIA director David Petraeus.

"I have full confidence in General Allen," Rasmussen said at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

United States Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Wednesday backed the top US commander in Afghanistan, saying he had his "continued confidence".

General John Allen was placed under investigation after FBI agents probing email threats sent by former CIA director David Petraeus' mistress stumbled upon messages he had sent to another woman at the center of the scandal.

A four-star general who headed U.S. Africa Command has been demoted amid charges he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on pricey travel, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta demoted General William "Kip" Ward, who was asked to reimburse $82,000 for having inappropriately used Pentagon travel funds, a senior defense official said.

President Barack Obama gave his backing to the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday after the top general was dragged into the sex scandal that brought down CIA director David Petraeus.

General John Allen was placed under investigation after FBI agents probing email threats sent by Petraeus' mistress stumbled upon a vast trove of "flirtatious" messages Allen sent to another woman at the heart of the scandal.

The United States said Tuesday the newly formed opposition National Coalition is "a legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, but stopped short of recognizing it as a government-in-exile.

"We now have a structure in place that can prepare for a political transition, but... we're looking for it to still establish the types of technical committees that will allow us to make sure our assistance gets to the right places," State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.

President Barack Obama has delayed General John Allen's nomination as NATO's supreme commander pending a probe into his email correspondence with a woman at the center of a sex scandal, a White House spokesman said Tuesday.

"At the request of the secretary of defense, the president has put on hold his nomination of Gen Allen as SACEUR pending the investigation of Gen Allen's conduct by the Department of Defense IG (inspector general)," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated on Tuesday her country's support to consultations carried out by President Michel Suleiman with Lebanese foes to form a “transitioning government.”

Clinton, in a letter handed to Suleiman by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, hailed the efforts exerted by the president to form a new transitioning cabinet “that reflects the aspirations of the Lebanese people and strengthens Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty, and independence.”

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, is under investigation for "inappropriate" emails to a woman linked to the sex scandal involving former CIA director David Petraeus, a defense official said Tuesday.

The revelation represented yet another stunning turn in a widening scandal that has jolted Washington only days after the re-election of President Barack Obama, with lawmakers vowing to get to the bottom of case.

Susan Rice, the top U.S. diplomat at the center of speculation about a top job in the new Obama administration, said Monday she is happy to remain the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

US media reports have made Rice a strong contender to become U.S. secretary of state in place of Hillary Clinton or President Barack Obama's national security adviser.