Former Malaysian Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim at the Pentagon in 1998. Photo: wiki commons.

Anwar Ibrahim is a front runner to be Malaysia’s next Prime Minister.  On Thursday, he was acquitted of sodomy charges after 6 years of imprisonment, following a political dispute he had with the country’s former leader over a decade ago.

Current Prime Minister Najib Razak is required to hold elections by June of 2013 but most – including Ibrahim – expect the elections to take place by this summer.  In remarks Ibrahim made yesterday to the Wall Street Journal following his acquittal, he said “I support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel.”  Malaysia and Israel do not currently hold diplomatic ties.

Malaysia is one of three countries in Southeast Asia that does no conduct direct diplomatic relations withe Israel – Brunei and Indonesia are the other two.