Prime Minister's Wife Wasn't Hiding Pregnancy

Sinchew - The mystery has been solved. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's wife is not pregnant _ or angry.

Jeanne Abdullah hadn't been seen in public in recent weeks, and speculation was swirling that the first lady, who married the prime minister last June, was pregnant or that she was fighting with her husband.

But the couple dispelled those rumors when they appeared together at an art gallery Saturday (5 Apr). Their explanation: Jeanne had been recovering from surgery on her heel.

"So the rumor that she is having morning sickness is over now," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama, late Saturday.

Most people had dismissed the pregnancy rumor because Jeanne is 54 years old, but others believed the couple had been quarreling.

"They said you ran away from me. Show them, show them," Abdullah said, pointing to his wife's bandaged heel.

Abdullah and Jeanne have been inseparable at social events following their wedding last year. Abdullah remarried after his first wife died of breast cancer in 2005. (AP)