This morning, I saw Anwar Ibrahim for the first time since July 1998, when it all started. Over six years of waiting for justice to prevail - but in the end it did. He looks older, but then, don't we all?

His skin has lost some of its glow, the result, no doubt, of those many years of incarceration - or perhaps it's the grey winter at Oxford. But the mind - ah, yes, the mind - is still there, and so is the charisma that appealed to so many people, not just in Malaysia, but around the world.

I think Anwar himself is surprised by the world's reaction since his release. After all, sitting in jail everyday, it was hard to know what was going on in the outside world. The Malaysian press did its best to trumpet the line that he was a 'spent force' and that the Malaysian people had forgotten him. Even when he came to Federal Court on Sept 1, the day of his freedom, there were only 100 supporters waiting in front of the court building.

But as soon as Anwar was released, the world came to attention. Now everyone wants him to visit their country. He is overwhelmed by requests for speeches. Journalists from al-Jazeera to The New York Times want to interview him. World leaders whom he knew during his days in Government have reached out to meet him, from Nelson Mandela to Kofi Annan.

Most of the world has little understanding of Malaysian domestic politics.What the outside world sees in Anwar is someone who tries to build bridges and close the gaps that divide us - between East and West, between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds, and between the developed and developing countries.

They see someone who just like Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak - is an articulate voice for a moderate, tolerant, progressive Islam. When Anwar speaks, he brings credit to Malaysia, just like the premier and deputy premier do.

Why, then, the effort to denigrate what he is doing? It only serves to make his critics at home look petty and far more concerned about their political status than they are about the international contribution that Malaysia can make at one of the most difficult times in modern history.

Important role

America under President George W Bush is pursuing a disastrous policy in the Middle East, and anti-American attitudes have never been worse. Meanwhile, despots in Arab countries continue to justify their repressive policies by blaming the West for the ills for which they themselves are responsible.

Closer to home in Malaysia, there is a growing insurgency in southern Thailand that by many accounts is being mismanaged and even exacerbated by the Thai government. Radical Islam is on the rise in parts of Indonesia, and the Moro insurgency in the southern Philippines reportedly is seeing new life.

At a time like this, Malaysia can make a major contribution to the world and try to bridge these differences. Abdullah, Najib, and Anwar could all be supportive of each other in doing this, because their policy views are similar. While their domestic political agendas might differ, when it comes to Malaysia's role in the world, I think they are singing from the same song sheet.

But even on the domestic front, when it comes to the goals that the prime minister has articulated - an end to wasteful big projects, a focus on rural development, police reform, a fight against corruption, and so on - I do not see much difference between his policy vision and Anwar's. And I am sure that Najib also supports that vision.

So isn't it ironic that most of the political energy in Kuala Lumpur is being spent in intense daily discussions about who might be prime minister of Malaysia years from now, while there is so little concern about the problems that Malaysia and the world are facing right now, today?

As I said, most of the world is clueless when it comes to Malaysian domestic rivalries. But they do believe that Malaysia - in the face of Anwar, Badawi, Najib and so many others - can play a very important role in trying to reduce global tensions.

JOHN R MALOTT was the US Ambassador to Malaysia during the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 1998 political upheaval in Malaysia. After leaving government service in 1999, he was an outspoken advocate of freedom for Anwar. He currently is managing director of Manatt Jones Global Strategies in Washington, DC.

Malott and his wife Hiroko met Anwar and wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, on Feb 24 in Washington DC. Anwar, who is currently on a two-month stint in Oxford University, is in the US for a few days to attend a conference in Florida.