Anwar seeks reforms as he gets hero's welcome in KL

Anwar seeks reforms as he gets hero's welcome in KL

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

A defiant Anwar Ibrahim pledged to fight on for reform in Malaysia as he returned to a hero's welcome on Sunday after spinal surgery in Germany, saying Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi fell short of expectations during his first year in power.

Hundreds of supporters defied a police ban to greet the former deputy premier at the airport, chanting his battle cry of "Reformasi" (reform) and shouting "Long live Anwar!"

Some 1,000 gathered later at his home in an upmarket Kuala Lumpur suburb. Anwar told them his release last month after six years in jail was just the start of a new chapter in the struggle to reform a government which he says is corrupt.

"I want to say thank you to you all but let me stress our problems are many. Don't think now that Anwar is free, everything is settled," he said in a 20-minute speech to supporters gathered in his garden, in the street and perched on the walls around his house.

"Anwar's release is the start of a new chapter. This chapter is one of defending the rights of all Malaysians, of all races," he said.

Anwar offered the prime minister his support on Sunday to clean up corruption, reflecting the nation's new political landscape.

Anwar made the conciliatory remark at his first news conference in Malaysia since rushing overseas for medical treatment last month after his release from almost six years in prison on what he called trumped-up charges.

"We will try to make arrangements tomorrow morning (to meet the prime minister) and to express similar views, to endorse the commitment in the war against corruption and ensuring the separation of powers, including a free judiciary...," Anwar told reporters and hundreds of supporters at his home in the capital.

But Anwar, looking much fitter after surgery in Germany for a debilitating back illness, said he would remain in opposition and felt Abdullah, a year into his reign, had not done enough to fulfill his anticorruption pledge.

"I have also expressed my reservations before -- what is done is short of the pronouncements. Notwithstanding that, I will continue to assure him of our support," Anwar said.

He said he would thank Abdullah for his release but has no intention of rejoining the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO). He stressed he would stay in the opposition camp and in the National Justice Party (Keadilan) headed by his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Anwar, heir apparent to Mahathir before being sacked in 1998, was later jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy which he said were cooked up to prevent him challenging Mahathir for the premiership.

Anwar said some of his supporters had initiated moves to seek a pardon for him from the king that would let him enter politics immediately, but such a quest was not an admission of guilt.

"I am innocent of these vicious allegations against me," he said.

He had already served a sentence for allegedly corruptly using his position to cover up charges of sexual misconduct when the country's highest court overturned his separate conviction for sodomy on Sept. 2 and set him free.

Anwar criticized the massive police operation at the airport to prevent his supporters turning out to welcome him, saying: "They (his supporters) brought flowers, not bullets".

Police set up six roadblocks on the way to the airport outside Kuala Lumpur but more than 500 supporters turned up, many taking the high-speed train from the capital.

Keadilan vice president Tian Chua said his glasses were broken when police bundled him out of the arrival hall.

"This is another form of intimidation and harassment by the government," said another party official Azmin Ali. "It is obvious that Anwar is still a real threat to UMNO and the government."

Anwar, accompanied by his wife, looked tired but smiled and waved at supporters as he walked unaided to his car after years of appearing in court in a wheelchair and neck brace. He says his back was injured during a police beating after his arrest in 1998.

He said he would take time to recuperate and tour the country.