Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim haven't agreed on much, if anything, in the 15 years since the latter was ousted from Mahathir's government and then jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.

But a US-led trade pact - the most ambitious since the demise of the Doha round of global talks - has succeeded in uniting the great rivals in condemnation of what they see as a US plot to impose its economic model on Asia.