KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20: Endon Mahmood, the wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, died on Thursday after a long battle with breast Cancer. The state Bernama news agency said she passed away at 7.55am local time (0455am PST) at the prime minister’s residence in Putrajaya, the nation’s administrative centre.

Thousands of Malaysians were flocking to the residence to pay their respects late Thursday morning ahead of a funeral and burial scheduled for this afternoon in Putrajaya.—

Endon spearheaded a campaign to revolutionise Malaysia’s batik industry and recently launched another to revive the traditional songket fabric.—AFP