Malaysian prime minister promises to step aside

KUALA LUMPUR: When Anwar Ibrahim finally walks to freedom, it will be partly thanks to Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s second-timearound prime minister, who has admitted he played a part when Ibrahim was first put behind bars in 1998.

Mohamad, who was sworn in as the country’s leader on Thursday after winning this week’s general election, has already sought a royal pardon for Ibrahim and has promised to step aside for his friendturned- foe- turned- ally to become prime minister.

Mohamad – at the age of 92, now the world’s oldest elected leader – is basking in the limelight after an election victory that has taken him back to the prime minister’s office he ran with an iron fist for 22 years.

Ibrahim, 70, made his name as a firebrand Islamic youth leader and became a member of parliament in his mid-thirties.

Mohamad invited Ibrahim to join the main government party in 1982 to bridge the gap between its Malay nationalist image and its Islamic aspirations. – Reuters