Kuala Lumpur, Aug 9 : Malaysian Unity and Culture Minister Mohamad Shafie Apdal was elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association here today.

Apdal backed by India and others won a total of 152 out of 255 votes polled in comparison to the 102 bagged by his rival, Lord Swraj Paul, who was supported by Britain and Canada. One vote was declared invalid.

Apdal described his election as the head of the CPA, which has15,000 members and covers 177 branches, as an honour.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Friday that he was confident of leading the opposition to take over the government by mid-September, despite having to fight off fresh sodomy charges.

Anwar, who was charged Thursday with sodomizing a former male aide, said an "adequate number" of government lawmakers have pledged to cross over once he re-enters parliament through a by-election at the end of the month.

Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 7 : Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim , who was charged on Thursday with committing carnal intercourse with a male aide, has been released on a personal bond of RM 20, 0000 with no surety. Sessions Court Judge S M Komathy Suppiah granted the bail.

The bail was set even after Anwar pleaded his innocence to the charge in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and called it ``a malicious accusation.''''

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Kuala Lumpur - The Philippine government remains confident of reaching a peace agreement with Muslim separatist rebels despite a court ruling which temporarily blocked the inking of the long-awaited pact, the Philippines' Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Tuesday.

Romulo was confident that the "temporary setback" would be resolved quickly, adding that both Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had the political will to continue with the signing of the agreement.

Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian drug addict set his home ablaze in a fit of rage after his mother refused to give him 2 ringgit (65 cents), reports said Tuesday.

The fire, which was set in the 35-year-old's room, spread and destroyed three of his neighbours' homes in the Monday evening incident which left 20 people homeless, the Malay-language Berita Harian daily said.

The suspect's stepfather, Ibrahim Sulong, said his stepson had hit his 65-year old wife in the forehead when she refused to give him the money.

The woman, who had to receive seven stitches from the wound, then lodged a police report against her son, he said.

Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 1 : Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has labelled former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a war criminal, and criticised the present government for extending an invitation to Blair to visit Malaysia.

"I am disgusted that Tony Blair has been invited to Malaysia. This man, to me, is a war criminal. Through instigating the war in Iraq, he has killed more than Radovan Karadzic and Saddam Hussein," said Mahathir at his office at the Petronas Twin Towers.