Bush forgets Malaysian Premier has remarried

KUALA LUMPUR: US President George W Bush had a brief memory lapse when he forgot that Malaysian Premier Abdullah Badawi had recently remarried and he had already congratulated him.

"When his (Badawi's) wife (Endon Mahmood) died, I tried to call him early just to let him know I cared about him," Bush said in an interview to the Asia Pacific journalists in Washington on Friday.

When told that Badawi had remarried, Bush appeared surprised and said "has he? good I will congratulate him, thanks for giving me that heads-up. I am going to congratulate him, that's neat," media reports here said on Saturday.

When an aide told Bush that he had already congratulated Badawi, the US President laughed at his memory lapse and said "exactly I am going to congratulate him again. I will double the congratulations."

Bush later admitted that he had forgotten and asked his aide whether he had called or written a note to Badawi. He was told that he had written a note. "Thats right. Yes. I also sent him a couple of flowers," Bush noted.

Badawi remarried in June this year following his first wife's demise in 2005.

Bush, who congratulated Malaysia on its 50th Independence Day, described Badawi's leadership as a very constructive force for Southeast Asia, national news agency Bernama said.