Four of the suspended years are conditional on him paying compensation of around $12,000 to one of his victims.

He was earlier found guilty on 11 counts of homosexual assault.

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Mr Banana's lawyers said they were appealing against both the conviction and the sentence.

The convictions mostly relate to former bodyguards and date back to when he was head of state in the early 1980s.

Last year, shortly before his conviction, he fled the country to South Africa where he met President Nelson Mandela.

He agreed to return to Zimbabwe following a meeting between Mr Mandela and the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, where his fate was discussed.

He spent a month under house arrest following his return from South Africa.

No mandatory sentence

The punishment was left to the judge's discretion - there is no mandatory sentence for sodomy or committing an unnatural act, the two most serious offences of which he was convicted, the state prosecutor said.

Most of the previous sentences for sodomy, cited in last month's hearing, were of one or two years in jail.

The remaining eight charges are of indecent and common assault which relate to incidents such as kissing, or attempting to kiss, his bodyguards.

Global interest

The trial aroused enormous interest both in Zimbabwe and around the world, not only because Mr Banana is a former president, but because his successor, Robert Mugabe, is well known for his condemnation of homosexuals who he has said are worse than pigs and dogs.

Mr Mugabe said recently he continued to respect Canaan Banana and he discussed the case with Nelson Mandela shortly before Mr Banana came back to Zimbabwe.

This led to speculation that the two presidents had agreed that despite his conviction, the former head of state would not be sent to jail.