The criticism by the US envoy over harsh comments by Malaysian leaders over the war on Iraq is expected to cast a pall over Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's participation in a G8 meeting in France later this week.
The deteriorating state of US-Malaysia relations became evident only yesterday when the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur made public a speech by ambassador Marie T Huhtala at an ASLI Strategic Issues Forum last Friday.