WASHINGTON - After years of fending off barbs and denouncing controversial comments from one of its chief Asian antagonists, the United States held its tongue on Friday as Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down after 22 years in office.

"No," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said when asked if he had any parting wishes for Mahathir who most recently earned Washington's wrath for stating earlier this month that Jews run the world by proxy.

"Thanks for the opportunity, though," Boucher told a news briefing.

A senior State Department official later tweaked Mahathir for his alleged anti-semitism by replying to the same question with the Hebrew phrase meaning "congratulations" or "best wishes."

"Mazel tov," the official said in a conversation with reporters, insisting on anonymity.

At an Islamic summit he hosted in mid-October, Mahathir provoked international outrage by saying "the Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy."

Washington's silence on Friday was unusual. US officials - led by President George W Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell - have roundly condemned the comments as "hateful" and "offensive."

On Thursday, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously 411 to 0, with one absention, to condemn the remarks as "incendiary" and "despicable."

That vote followed the Senate's unanimous passage of a similar measure that also called for US$1.2 million in US military aid to be withheld unless the State Department certifies that Malaysia "supports and promotes religious freedoms, including tolerance for people of the Jewish faith."

Mahathir had brushed off the threat, saying that withholding the money "wouldn't make any difference to us" and appeared to imply that the Senate vote was proof that his claim about Jews was correct.

But the Bush administration said it did not support the aid linkage, believing that Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, should have a chance to express different opinions. - AFP