Malaysia: Opposition leader Anwar returns to Parliament, but only as spouse guest - AP

By Sean Yoong

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Ten years after being kicked out, Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim returned to Parliament on Tuesday - but only as a spouse guest.

"This is a new beginning. I have entered. I will never leave again," Anwar said after attending the formal opening of Parliament, where he was once deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Anwar was invited as the husband of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who won a seat for their People's Justice Party and is now the formal opposition leader in Parliament.

Anwar said it won't be long before he is elected a lawmaker in a by-election.

He was ousted from government in 1998 by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in a power struggle amid accusations of corruption and sodomy. Anwar denied the charges, which were widely believed to be trumped up.

The sodomy charge was later overturned but he served prison time after being convicted of corruption.

[More at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24361891/]