GERMANY: MALAYSIAN REBEL POLITICIAN ANWAR IBRAHIM ARRIVES AT A MUNICH CLINIC FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.

Record ID: 208287

  • Title: GERMANY: MALAYSIAN REBEL POLITICIAN ANWAR IBRAHIM ARRIVES AT A MUNICH CLINIC FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.
  • Date: 5th September 2004
  • Summary: (W4)MUNICH, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 5, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/EXTERIOR: OF ALPHA CLINIC. 0.06 2. MV: FORMER MALAYSIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANWAR IBRAHIM HELPED OUT OF CAR. 0.18 3. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MALAYSIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANWAR IBRAHIM SAYING: "This is your welcome to Munich?, I am fine, I am fine, if I was
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MUNICH, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVAAU5D6PWMRRV8OTUM1WXGA1MQH
  • Story Text: Malaysian rebel politician Anwar Ibrahim arrives in
    Munich on Sunday for medical treatment.



    Malaysian rebel politician Anwar Ibrahim arrived in
    the southern German city of Munich on Sunday (September 5)
    for medical treatment.

    He arrived at a clinic in Munich under bright blue
    skies on Sunday after an overnight flight to Germany's main
    international hub in Frankfurt -- and then taking a
    transfer flight to Munich.

    Anwar joked with reporters waiting for him outside the
    clinic, saying: "Shouldn't you say 'Welcome to Munich'?" as
    he got out of the front seat of a car.

    "I'm fine, I'm fine," said Anwar, who was wearing a
    neck brace. But he then added: "If I were well I wouldn't
    be in a clinic."
    Anwar said he wasn't sure when he would face surgery.

    "I'm happy to be here and the doctor will decide my
    fate today. He will advise accordingly when to conduct the
    surgery. Then I will rest and recuperate." In Malaysia about 2,000
    supporters turned up at the
    airport to give him a send-off, chanting "Long live Anwar".

    Aides had to hold back the crowd as he was pushed in a
    wheelchair towards the departure area.

    The former deputy prime minister was unexpectedly
    released from prison last week after serving almost six
    years on what he calls trumped-up charges of sodomy and
    corruption.

    Anwar got a new passport on Friday so that he could fly
    to Munich for specialist treatment of a back complaint.

    Anwar wants to have surgery at a Munich spinal clinic
    that uses relatively non-invasive techniques to treat an
    ailment his family says could lead to paralysis if left
    untreated.

    The former deputy prime minister and finance minister
    turned reform-minded rebel after falling out with veteran
    leader Mahathir Mohamad in 1998.

    Under Malaysian law, Anwar is barred from returning to
    active politics until 2008. A court reversed his sodomy
    conviction last week and his family lawyer said his legal
    team would now seek to have his remaining criminal
    conviction, for corruption, overturned.

    If this conviction were erased, the ban would be lifted
    and Anwar would be able to return to political life
    immediately, lawyer Sankara Nair told Reuters on Friday.



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