ANWAR IS BACK

Bangkok post - On the day he became eligible to be prime minister again, Anwar Ibrahim held an illegal midnight rally that was busted by police to the jeers of 40,000 supporters.

The rally marks the expiry of Anwar's official ban from public office, a decade after he was sacked as deputy prime minister.

And politics could be about to get interesting. Anwar officially requested Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to conduct an open investigation on ex-premier and Anwar's nemisis Mahathir Mohamad for alleged excesses when he was the prime minister for 22 years.

And Anwar Ibrahim told the crowd he already has the votes of enough pro-government lawmakers to topple Abdullah.

Political gatherings are strictly controlled in Malaysia, and police had threatened to break up the event, held at a private club in central Kuala Lumpur, because they said it was illegal. more...