Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has taken ill with signs of chickenpox and may be unable to meet visiting dignitaries this week, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Official spokesmen say Najib was scheduled to meet Gillard today, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, after all three attended the ASEAN summit in Hanoi at the weekend.
Najib's press secretary says the prime minister is ill and doctors have advised him to cancel all meetings and appointments, but the visit with Gillard will go ahead with deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
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The PM was expected to pitch her East Timor asylum seeker processing centre plan to her Malaysian counterpart, after spruiking it at a major meeting of Asian leaders at the weekend.
Ms Gillard sought support for the proposal at the 16-nation East Asia Summit and in a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
Leaders discussed concerns about upcoming elections in Burma and tensions between North and South Korea.
Ms Gillard welcomed the leaders' reaffirmation of their commitment to regional efforts to combat people smuggling.
"I'm pleased that there is a specific paragraph on this question in the chairman's statement," Ms Gillard told reporters on Sunday.
"I think that's an indication ... that this is an issue that the region acknowledges needs further work."
