Anwar launches bid to clear name

Anwar Ibrahim is now in Munich, awaiting back surgery

Lawyers for Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, have launched an effort to clear his name.

Mr Anwar was freed from jail on Thursday, after a conviction for sodomy was quashed by a Malaysian court.

On Monday, his legal team appeared before the same court to argue that his conviction for corruption should also be overturned.

Mr Anwar is currently in Munich, where he has undergone successful back surgery, the Associated Press reports.

The head of the surgical team told the news agency that there were no complications in the operation which was for a slipped disc and spinal stenosis.

"I expect him to walk without pain," Thomas Hoogland said. "He will by and large be fit again."

Mr Anwar says he has suffered back problems since a police beating following his arrest in 1998.

Mr Anwar was detained just one day after the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, his mentor-turned-rival, sacked him amid differences over the Asian economic crisis.

The charges against him were widely seen as politically motivated, and international human rights groups have welcomed his release after six years in jail.

Barred from office

At Monday's hearing, Mr Anwar's lawyers asked Malaysia's Federal Court to review its own decision in 2002 to refuse an appeal against the corruption conviction.

"The circumstances in this case cry out for a remedy, namely that the conviction and sentence is set aside for Anwar Ibrahim to return to public life," lawyer Karpal Singh told the court.

ANWAR'S LEGAL BATTLE Sept 98 - Sacked and arrested April 99 - Jailed for six years for corruption relating to alleged sodomy July 00 - Sentenced to further nine years for sodomy - alleged to have had sex with five men July 2002 - Loses appeal against corruption conviction Sept 2004 - Wins appeal against sodomy conviction Profile: Anwar Ibrahim Anwar's release: have your say

But the prosecutors who put Anwar behind bars argue that the Federal Court would exceed its own jurisdiction if it agreed to a review.

Mr Anwar has already completed his sentence for the corruption charge, but he will be barred from standing for office for five years unless the conviction is formally overturned.

He has yet to announce what he intends to do now he has been released, but his eldest daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, insisted that the bid to quash the conviction was more than just a question of politics.

"He has maintained his innocence all along of these charges," she said. "My father wants to clear his name more than anything else."

The hearing has now been adjourned until Tuesday and a verdict is expected later the same day.

If the court rules in Mr Anwar's favour, a full appeal will then be scheduled.