Malaysia's PM weds for second time - report

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Reuters) Malaysia's prime minister tied the knot with the manager of his official residence today, marrying for a second time after his first wife died from breast cancer, the official Bernama news agency reported.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 67, and Jeanne Abdullah, 53, were married at the premier's official residence in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital, the report said quoting a family statement.

The wedding was attended by close relatives. There was no press coverage of the event, at the family's request.

''The prime minister and his wife would like to thank the people for their good wishes for a happy marriage,'' the statement said.

An aide of the prime minister said the couple's first trip abroad would be to Brunei on Monday to attend the wedding of the Brunei sultan's daughter.

Abdullah's wife has two children by a former marriage, which ended in divorce. She helped manage several hotels in Malaysia before taking up her current post.

The prime minister was married to Endon Mahmood, a former colleague in the Malaysian civil service, for 40 years before she died on October 20, 2005, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The couple had two children, Kamaluddin and Nori.

REUTERS AE RN1455