Malaysia's Anwar in U-turn over party presidency

Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy for president of the opposition party he advises amid fears it could be de-registered if he continued with his bid.

Anwar told an emotional crowd of almost 2,000 delegates at an annual gathering for Keadilan, or the People's Justice Party, that he would, however, remain its de-facto leader.

Keadilan is formally run by Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, who remained the party's legal head after a third candidate, Abdul Rahman Othman, also withdrew his candidacy.

"I have withdrawn and decided to ask the party to give support to Azizah," Anwar told reporters at the sidelines of the gathering.

"I will lead but we need to follow the rules and law. So for the post of president, let us give way to Azizah. With that, it will be Azizah as president, and I will continue to lead as before," he said in his speech, despite repeated pleas from members. The Malaysian Registrar of Societies, a government agency, on Friday rejected Anwar's attempt to run for president of Keadilan.

Anwar is barred from standing for public office or holding a position within a political party until April 2008 because of a corruption conviction.

It was feared that if he had continued his bid, it could have led to the party being de-registered.

He also faced a three-year jail term and a fine of up to 10,000 ringgit (nearly 3,000 dollars) if he pressed ahead.