(tried listed bug reports but still can't solve this)

Configuration: PHP 4.3.1 with mbstring enabled, mysql, apache dynamic module

Abstract of the script:
<?php
/* $Id: index.php,v 1.36 2003/01/08 13:50:27 nijel Exp $ */
// vim: expandtab sw=4 ts=4 sts=4:


/**
 * Gets core libraries and defines some variables
 */
require('./libraries/grab_globals.lib.php');
require('./libraries/common.lib.php');


------------------

Some weeks ago I have install phpmyadmin and run it smoothly on my machine with Apache 1.3.9 and PHP4.0.6.

However, some days ago after upgrading to PHP4.3.1, I have problem in including files using relative path. An example is listed here using phpmyadmin on version 2003/02/09. I haven't changed any configuration of phpmyadmin or apache. The following error suddenly appears after my upgrade:

--------------
Warning: main(./libraries/grab_globals.lib.php) [function.main]: failed to create stream: ?L???ɮשΥؿ? in /export/home/grace/public_html/nonpublic/index.php on line 9

Fatal error: main() [function.main]: Failed opening required './libraries/grab_globals.lib.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /export/home/grace/public_html/nonpublic/index.php on line 9
---------------

I find it strange because I have compared the include_path variable with that in my old php configuration file nad found no difference. I have tried even commented it out or leave the variable blank, but this makes thing worse that  the scripts even failed to include files in the same directory, like include("file_in_same_dir.php") and results the same error as above.

I have even tried turning on and off safe mode and disabling the safe mode include path or commenting it out. However, none of these methods worked.

I have searched for the bug report and found that this seemed to happen in very old versions of PHP. However, what I was using was already version >4.0 and the version I just installed is the lastest! Should anyone be able to help me solve this strange problem, it would be very much appreciated. Billions of thanks in advance.