Ex-deputy PM hospitalized

Thu, 30 Dec 1999 | Source: AP

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A former deputy prime minister has been hospitalized in Kuala Lumpur after suffering a mild stroke during a trip to Indonesia, hospital officials said on Wednesday.

Ghafar Baba, 74, was flown back to Malaysia on Tuesday on a military jet from Bogor, 80 kilometers southeast of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, where he had been visiting his wife's family, the Malay-language Utusan Malaysia daily reported.

A spokesman for National University Hospital said Ghafar would remain hospitalized until doctors were certain the politician was in no immediate danger.

Ghafar rose from humble beginnings as a golf caddy to become the country's number two leader after winning the 1987 general election as the running mate of Malaysia's current prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. Ghafar was replaced in 1993 by Anwar Ibrahim, who was fired in September 1998 and sentenced to a six- year prison term for corruption.

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