U.S. officials have started to downplay expectations for Rice's trip as long as there is no resolution to what they call this internalcontradiction in Palestinian politics.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was reportedly angered by their call for political and economic reform (in direct contradiction of the official line that the country's current woes are due not to internal problems but to hostile external forces) and their extensive coverage of the controversial government-sanctioned rescue of a shipping company controlled by Mahathir's son Mirzan.