Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim flees Turkish refuge

Some years ago, Anwar Ibrahim was the deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was seen as next in line to Mahatir Mohammed, the strongman Prime Minister. For some reason, he fell from grace. He was accused and successfully charged with sodomy, which is still a crime in Malaysia.

AFP reports that he's under attack again.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Monday left the Turkish ambassador's residence, where he fled after being accused of sodomy, after the government guaranteed his safety.

Anwar, a former deputy premier who was sacked a decade ago and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges, accused the government of concocting new sex claims by a 23-year-old male aide and said he feared an assassination attempt.

"I pray enough will be done for my security," he told reporters after emerging from the ambassador's residence.

Anwar said the charges were an attempt to derail his political comeback at the helm of a resurgent opposition, and came as he was poised to re-enter parliament with the backing of four defectors from the ruling coalition.

"That is why they brought these allegations against me," he said. "It is an attempt to destroy my political career."

The charismatic opposition leader said the new charges would be "a repeat of the 1998 fiasco" when he was hit with the sodomy and corruption counts that were widely seen as politically motivated.

He spent six years in jail until 2004 when the sex charge was overturned. Anwar said he was targeted again because he had evidence that the police and attorney-general had fabricated evidence in the original trial.

March elections that handed the opposition a third of parliamentary seats and five states have shaken the coalition government that has ruled for half a century, and triggered calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to quit.

Anwar has said he will soon seize power with the help of defectors from the Barisan Nasional coalition which has ruled Malaysia for half a century.

Abdullah and his ministers have denied any connection with the accusations by Anwar's aide, who said he was sodomised at an upmarket condo in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar's lawyers on Monday filed a writ at the High Court charging the young man with libel and filing a false police report, saying the complaint was malicious and designed to destroy his political career.

I offer no opinion on Anwar's sexual orientation. It is irrelevant if the accusations are true or not. Sodomy laws are a violation of human rights. So is political persecution.

Abdullah Badawi, the current PM, was seen as a more capable and more compassionate man than Mahatir (who certainly did quite a bit of good for his country, but had a lot of bad moments). He had best not be involved in this.