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PM Mahathir seeks pardon for old foe

Kuala Lumpur - The Southeast Asian nation's political landscape has been shaped for decades by a bitter feud between Anwar and Mahathir.

Malaysia's newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that the country's monarch has indicated he was willing to grant a full royal pardon to jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim immediately.
The Southeast Asian nation's political landscape has been shaped for decades by a bitter feud between Anwar and Mahathir, whose decision to sack Anwar as his deputy sparked an opposition movement, Reformasi, or Reform, in 1998.
But in 2016, Mahathir abandoned the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, and joined Anwar's opposition alliance to fight against scandal-hit former premier Najib Razak.
"It is going to be a full pardon, which means not only pardoned, but he is released immediately and after that he will be free to participate fully in politics," Mahathir told reporters a day after he was sworn to office following his alliance's shock win in Wednesday's election.