WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar held their first meeting here yesterday, just over a week before both men are due at the Asean regional forum in Hanoi.

"The meeting allowed the two to become acquainted," said a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On the agenda were regional issues important to both sides, the official said, ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional forum.

The official said it was merely a coincidence that the meeting took place on the day that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad celebrated 20 years in power.

Tense ties

Washington has had tense relations with Mahathir in recent years, especially since the arrest and imprisonment of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 on sodomy and corruption charges.

Anwar says he was framed to avert a political challenge to Mahathir, an allegation denied by the government.

Powell brought up the case of Anwar "in the context of bilateral relations" between the two sides, said the official but gave no further details.

"We welcome Prime Minister Mahathir's interest in better bilateral ties with the United States, however the US also remains concerned about the human rights situation in Malaysia," the official said.

New ambassador

Meanwhile, President George W Bush yesterday announced he had picked Marie Huhtala, who has been deputy chief of mission in Thailand since 1998, as US ambassador to Malaysia.

Huhtala served as director of the office of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnamese affairs from 1996 to 1998.

All ambassadorial nominations require US Senate approval.