Endon Mahmood, activist wife of Malaysian leader; at 64

October 21, 2005|Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Endon Mahmood, the wife of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, died yesterday after a four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 64.

Her death occurred less than two months after the couple marked their 40th wedding anniversary. The Malaysian leader took office in October 2003 after the retirement of his predecessor, longtime leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Abdullah's wife, who recently underwent months of intensive chemotherapy in Los Angeles, died at the family's official residence yesterday in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital, after being released from a Malaysian hospital Monday, said the prime minister's spokeswoman, Esuriyanti Ahmad.

Parliament proceedings and several other government functions were canceled yesterday. Thousands of people were expected to gather at Abdullah's home to pay their final respects.

She was buried in a traditional Muslim funeral yesterday.

The couple have a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.

Abdullah has often called his wife his ''number one supporter." When his mother died of natural causes in February 2004, Abdullah telephoned his wife in the United States, where she was undergoing treatment. She later told reporters that he said, ''I've lost my mother, and I don't want to lose you, too."

The couple met while both were working at the Public Services Department in the 1960s. After retiring in 1976, she had mainly been involved in charity work for women and children and had spearheaded efforts to assist children in North Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

Since 2002, she had been deeply involved in awareness programs for breast cancer, the main cause of illness-related deaths for Malay women.