Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today left the building of the Turkish embassy in the capital, where he had taken refuge following threats and accusations of sodomy, causing him to fear for his life. Anwar had promised to leave the embassy if the Malaysian government would guarantee his safety.

Anwar was accused of sodomy by one of his assistants, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who disappeared after making the accusation to the police.  In Malaysia, the sentence for sodomy is 20 years in prison.

Anwar claims that the accusations against him are aimed at excluding him from the political elections, halting his glorious return.  In 1998, Anwar, who was deputy prime minister at the time, faced the same accusations and was sentenced to six years in prison for sodomy and corruption.  The sodomy charge was later dropped.  Freed in 2004, he was nonetheless unable to enter into politics until last April.  His party, Keadilan, met with modest success in the latest elections last March, obtaining 88 seats in parliament.  Since March, he has been proposing the idea of returning to political activity, looking to oust the governing party, Umno, headed by prime minister Abdullah Badawi.

According to Anwar, the new accusations are part of a plot to exclude him from political life.  His wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, has called the accusations "a political assassination".  At a press conference, she displayed several images (see photo) showing the accuser together with political figures of the government in power.  In recent months, Anwar has said publicly that he has received the support of more than 30 Umno parliamentarians, and that the fall of the Bidawi government is imminent.