United States Ambassador to Malaysia Marie Huthala said today that her recent comments on US-Malaysia ties were taken out of context.

"I never said our relations were at the lowest point. I think my comments (were a)...little bit taken out of context and little bit exaggerated," Bernama quoted her as saying.

When speaking at a business forum on May 23, the envoy reportedly said ties between the US and Southeast Asian countries would deteriorate if the leaders do not "curb their sometimes offensive" criticism of Washington's foreign policy.

Huthala did not single out Malaysia or Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in her speech, which was later uploaded on the embassy's website.

Mahathir, renowned for his anti-West rhetoric, is a staunch critic of the superpower's foreign policy, namely its support for Israel's occupation of Palestine and the recent war on Iraq.

Strong ties

Huhtala said Washington and Kuala Lumpur have a "very good and strong relationship" and she was only trying to enhance it.

"What I said was that we had some problems in the past and we really want to concentrate on the ways to improve it," she said.

"In fact, it is a very good and strong relationship, so I was trying in the spirit of constructive argument to explore ways to make it even better.

"I think you saw the fact the two leaders met in Evian, and indeed it is a good relationship and it is not nearly as bad as some people have thought I was trying to say."

Mahathir met US President George W Bush at the Enlarged Dialogue of the Summit of the Group of Eight (G8) in Evian and had described their meeting as "warm".

The premier, when asked to comment on the envoy's remarks earlier, had said the government would continue criticising the US if there is reason for it.

Peace process

In another development, Huthala said the US does not want to offend Malaysia by taking over the country's role in the peace process in southern Philippines.

Responding to a question, the ambassador said Washington would see Kuala Lumpur as taking the lead in the matter.

In this context, she added, the US would not want to do anything that would offend Malaysia.

"Because Malaysia has played a very helpful role as a formal broker for peace agreement in the southern Philippines...we are not proposing to do that ourselves," she said.

"We still see Malaysia as taking the lead but if there are ways we can be helpful in a sort of unofficial way, we will be interested in doing that."

On Monday, Bernama quoted an opposition senator in Manila as saying that the US was keen in troubleshooting the stalled peace process.

However, he added that there was a hitch since Malaysia was already involved and Washington's interference may cause disquiet.

Malaysia has hosted several talks between Manila and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF) over the past years which led to the signing of a cease fire pact.

The truce collapsed following renewed hostilities between the two, even as Kuala Lumpur sought another peace dialogue last month.