• The 76-year-old former secretary of state  said he met Corina Cretu, a 45-year-old member of the European Parliament, 10  years ago
• He said they began emailing each other in  2005 and ‘the emails became of a very personal nature but did not result in an  affair’
• Photos reportedly sent to Powell have  emerged – one in her bikini
• Powell was forced to address his  relationship with Cretu when notorious hacker ‘Guccifer’ posted some of their  emails online
• In the emails, Cretu describes Powell as  ‘the love of her life’ according to The Smoking Gun
• Powell has been married for 50 years to  his wife, Alma, and Cretu was married last year

By  Hayley Peterson

PUBLISHED: 14:16 EST, 1  August 2013 |  UPDATED: 11:55 EST, 3 August 2013

Colin Powell has admitted to exchanging ‘very  personal’ emails with a Romanian diplomat who sent him photos of herself – one  in a bikini – and confessed to loving him but he denies having an affair with  the much younger woman.

The 76-year-old retired general told the  Smoking Gun that he met Corina Cretu, 45, roughly  ten years ago when she was working as an assistant to the president of Romania.  She is now a member of the European Parliament.

Married Powell admitted to the exchange after  a hacker released details from their intimate messages.

In one email, dated November 14, 2011, Miss  Cretu wrote: ‘I have loved you too much, too many years. YOU were my greatest  love of my life…’.

In another she urges Powell, ‘Sip a  glass of  wine with me, as you used to tell me – advising me to lie neck  [naked] on tha  sofa.’

She also sent him pictures of herself,  including one in a hot tub and a bikini shot. However, the affection seems not  to have been returned.

‘After I left the Department of State in  January 2005 we stayed in touch via email,’ he told TSG. ‘Over time the emails  became of a very personal nature, but did not result in an affair. Those type of  emails ended a few years ago. There was no affair then and there is not one  now.’

Colin Powell (right) and Corina Cretu (left) are  pictured at a conference in Washington in July 2011. She posted this photo to  her blog

Corina Cretu emailed Colin Powell this photo of herself  at a pool. In her emails, she calls Powell the love of her life

In response to questions about multiple  photos included in some of the emails, he said, ‘She sent photos on a regular  basis. Lots of family photos with her nieces, who she adores,  family reunions,  formal business sessions, her wedding and some bathing  suit photos … Never  anything improper.’

Powell has been married for 50 years to his  wife, Alma, and Cretu was married last year.

He was forced to address his relationship  with Cretu on Thursday after the notorious hacker ‘Guccifer’ posted a link to a  Google document on Powell’s Facebook wall that contained some of the emails. The  post was promptly removed from his wall.

In the emails, ‘Cretu calls [Powell] the love  of her life and describes a  relationship that spanned more than a decade,’  according to TSG. ‘The 2010-2011 e-mails  would leave most readers with the  clear impression that the forlorn  Cretu is writing about the twilight of a  romance.’

In one email dated Christmas Eve 2010, she  wrote: ‘I did not believe that at 43 I can cry more for a man like a teenager.’  She added: ‘Have you such a heart to leave me here alone, [thinking] of you,  without enjoying your gifts… your small gestures or gifts, which once was very  powerful, without your words every day?’

Another, from 2011, said: ‘Nobody is saying  to go to bed. I just want to see you, nothing more.’

Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino confirmed  The Smoking Gun’s report.

‘Yes, the article accurately reflects the  situation and that is General Powell’s statement,’ Cifrino said in an email to  Politico.

Cretu has not responded to a request for  comment from MailOnline.

Colin Powell and his saucy emails

Colin Powell and his wife Alma Powell deliver remarks  following a meeting with business leaders and Obama administration officials on  ways to improve education in July 2011

Months ago, Guccifer successfully accessed  email accounts belonging to Powell  and a number of other high-ranking  officials, including former President George W. Bush and his family. The emails  between Powell and Cretu were not released at the time.

Powell said he asked Cretu earlier this week  – after the link to the emails was posted – to delete all the messages between  them. That email was also accessed by the hacker and posted online.

Powell explained to the Smoking Gun: ‘In  light of what was happening it seems obvious to ask Ms. Cretu to delete emails.’

He said the two ‘remain friends and  are in  touch,’ but have only seen each other ‘once or twice’ over the  past eight years  at ‘group conferences’ in Washington, D.C.

‘I am pleased that she is having a successful  career,’ Powell said. ‘I am pleased that she is recently and happily  married.’

Cretu holds a press conference in 2009 on responding to  violence against women in conflict. She is a member of the European  Parliament

Cretu was elected to the European Parliament  in 2007. She is the is vice-chair of Parliament’s ‘Progressive Alliance of  Socialists and Democrats,’ which traveled to Washington in July 2011 for a  conference.

Cretu posted a blog about the conference and  included a photo of herself and Colin Powell.

‘Commander of U.S. troops in the first Gulf  War and Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005, General Colin Powell is one of the  most avid observers of global developments and also an old and good friend of  Romania,’ she wrote, according to an English translation of her blog, which was  written in Romanian. ‘I had, along with colleagues from Socialist MEP  delegation, a very interesting discussion, focusing particularly on  transatlantic cooperation in the current geopolitical framework.’

Cretu posted this photo to her blog with the caption  ‘Congress, meeting Mr Chairman with Mrs. Clinton, 1998.’ Hillary Clinton is  pictured far left and Cretu is second-from-left

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