Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi resigned Thursday after obtaining the consent of the country's constitutional monarch, paving the way for his deputy Najib Razak to be declared the new premier.

Abdullah, 70, arrived at the royal palace in the capital Kuala Lumpur early Thursday, to hand in his letter of resignation.

Government officials said Najib is due to be sworn in as the country's sixth prime minister on Friday.

Abdullah served as premier for slightly over five years, after he took over from former leader Mahathir Mohamad in November 2003.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Saturday that he would resign Thursday, paving the way for his deputy to become the country's new premier.

Abdullah said he would seek an audience with Malaysia's constitutional monarch, King Mizan Zainal Abidin, on Thursday to convey his intention to relinquish his post as prime minister.

Abdullah, who has been in office since November 2003, said a ceremony to transfer power to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak would be held later but declined to give a date.

Kuala Lumpur  - In a rousing speech marking his resignation as party president, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday called on the ruling party to work at rebuilding its badly bruised image and focus on leading the nation.

Abdullah was emotional and struggled to hold back tears throughout his opening speech of the general assembly of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Taipei - Taiwan upheld its claim to the disputed Spratly Islands Friday, a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi inspected Layang Layang, one of the islets of the South China Sea archipelago.

"Historically, geographically and factually, the Spratly Islands and surrounding waters have long been the traditional territory of the Republic of China without doubt," said Taiwan's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Tehran  - Malaysian Prime Minster Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arrived on Sunday for a three-day visit and talks with Iranian officials, state television reported.

Badawi is scheduled to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday and explore ways to boost bilateral ties, the report said.

Before coming to Tehran, Badawi spent a day in the central Iranian tourist city of Isfahan, which is a sister city of the Malaysian commercial capital of Kuala Lumpur. (dpa)

Kuala Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Wednesday that he would step down in March when he cedes the helm of the ruling party to his deputy.

Abdullah, who is president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), made the announcement at a special meeting with top leaders of the 13 parties comprising the ruling National Front coalition.

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 24 : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has agreed to consider the Malaysian Indian Congress’s appeal to release five Hindraf leaders detained under the ISA.

“The Prime Minister has promised to discuss the matter with the Home Minister and arrive at a decision,” said MIC president S. Samy Vellu.

Samy Vellu and Human Resources Minister Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also MIC secretary-general, had a 30-minute meeting with Badawi in Putrajaya.

He said the meeting was to seek the immediate release of the five Hindraf leaders R. Kengadharan, M. Manoharan, V. Ganabatirau, P. Uthayakumar and K. Vasantha Kumar from ISA detention.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Wednesday that he might resign before a previously set deadline of 2010 when he is to hand over power to his deputy.

Abdullah, who has been facing mounting pressure from within his own ruling party to resign, said he would hand over his portfolio as finance minister to his deputy Najib Razak, and take on the smaller defence ministry from Najib.

Abdullah, who has promised to step down in June 2010, declined to give further details of a more definite time frame for his resignation.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday suspended a veteran politician who made racist remarks against the ethnic Chinese community.

Following a special meeting, Abdullah said Ahmad Ismail has been stripped of his post as a district chief in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, and would be barred from the party for three years.

During a speech last month, Ahmad said the Chinese were "immigrants" and "squatters" who had no right to demand privileges or equal treatment with the majority ethnic Malays.

Ahmad, who is an ethnic Malay, had defended his remarks and remained unapologetic despite calls by community leaders for an apology.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday announced his government would increase development spending in 2009 as part of initiatives to help the public deal with soaring inflation.

Abdullah, who is also finance minister, said a budget of 207.9 billion ringgit (63 billion dollars) would be allocated for next year, out of which 53.7 billion ringgit would be used for development expenditure, an increase of 11.8 per cent from 46.3 billion ringgit allocated for this year.

Abdullah said the budget, which was announced in Parliament, would focus on developing quality human capital and strengthening the nation's economic resilience.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was set to announce Thursday plans to retire in June 2010, news reports said.

Abdullah, who has been fighting criticism and calls to step down following his ruling coalition's dismal performance during the March 8 election, was expected to make the announcement after a party meeting later Thursday, the Star daily quoted sources as saying.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Friday that he has decided on a time to hand over power to his deputy, the official Bernama news agency said. He did not name a date.

Abdullah has been under pressure from within and outside his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to resign after losses sustained by the ruling National Front coalition in March 8 elections.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has pledged not to raise the price of fuel for the rest of the year, reports said Thursday.

Abdullah said the decision was made by the Cabinet late Wednesday as the government was aware of the burden faced by Malaysians following a recent raise in petrol prices by a whopping 40 per cent, the official Bernama news agency said.

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 13: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has dissolved the Parliament on Wednesday to pave the way for general elections.

"The king has given his consent to dissolve the Parliament, effective today February 13, to allow the elections to be held," he told reporters here.

"The states have been advised to dissolve the state assemblies on the same date," Badawi said.

He said that the Election Commission would decide on the polling date. (ANI)