Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has recorded a birthday message for his protégé-turned-nemesis-turned-ally Anwar Ibrahim, in conjunction with the latter’s 70th birthday.

In the eight-second video that was apparently recorded in a crowded lift, Mahathir was seen facing the camera saying, “Happy birthday Anwar. I hope you will have many more happy returns of the day.”

The clip was provided to Malaysiakini by Anwar's spouse Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's office.

Earlier this morning, the jailed opposition leader had been greeted with supporters bearing a birthday cake and banners as he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, where he was to appear as a witness in his daughter’s Nurul Izzah’s defamation suit against minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar...