found the fix. i knew it was easy. special thanks to sachin_07 on asp.net forum.
http://forums.asp.net/p/1193939/2057996.aspx#2057996
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My code looks like this...
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
Me.Xml1.DocumentSource = Server.MapPath(Request.Item("link"))
End Sub