Anwar's wife to visit RP

Anwar's wife to visit RP

MANILA (AFP): Azizah Ismail, the wife of Malaysia's jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim is to visit the Philippines next week as a guest of former president Corazon Aquino, the foreign department said on Friday.

"Cory invited her," Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja told reporter, adding officials were unaware if Azizah would also call on President Joseph Estrada.

Estrada ruffled bilateral ties between the southeast Asian neighbors last year when he bluntly criticized Anwar's treatment by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government.

The two countries have since moved to mend relations. When Anwar was sentenced to six years in jail for corruption earlier this month, Estrada described it as a domestic issue but urged his "friend" to keep fighting.