Refusing to be drawn into a war of words with Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron, the United States embassy in Malaysia offered a diplomatic response to his acerbic accusation that the superpower wanted to "kill" Malays.

In a text message to Malaysiakini, an embassy spokesperson said the people of Malaysia and the US have a strong relationship built on mutual trust as well as common economic and security interests.

"Investing in the long term relationship between our countries provides a stronger foundation for us to also address issues of concern," he added.

However, the spokesperson declined to comment on those casting aspersion on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) court filings with regard to alleged abuse of 1MDB funds.

"We refer you to the DOJ for any questions about this case," he said when quizzed on this.

The spokesperson was initially asked to respond to Idris, who claimed that the US was aiming to do to the Malays what it did to the Iraqis in the past.

"You cheated the Iraqis, you killed the Iraqis, and now you want to kill the Malays in Malaysia," he said when officiating an Umno division delegates meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

As for the DOJ suits, the chief minister dismissed it as nothing more than a ploy to topple Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Since the damning court filings were made public, Malaysian ruling politicians had gone on the offensive against the US and questioned its agenda.

Prior to this, Najib had established strong links with the Obama administration, with the US president visiting Malaysia twice and the pair even playing a round of golf in Hawaii.

However, Najib himself has now warned Muslim leaders against foreign intervention.

The DOJ forfeiture suits last month alleged that about US$3 billion had been misappropriated from 1MDB.

It seeks the forfeiture of over US$1.5 billion in assets, which it claims are part of the proceeds of the alleged crime that had been laundered through the US financial system.

In response, attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali had claimed there is no evidence of misappropriation from any investigation, but that a police investigation is still ongoing.

Najib is widely speculated to be the person named ‘Malaysian Official 1’ in the court documents, who supposedly is among those who had benefited from the misappropriation.

Najib however has consistently denied wrongdoing, while Apandi had previously exonerated him.

Those named in the court documents include the prime minister’s stepson Riza Aziz and Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who is supposedly close to Najib’s family.