Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police have served opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim with an arrest warrant in connection with sodomy allegations levelled by a former male aide, Anwar's lawyer said Tuesday. Sankara Nair said the investigating officer Jude Pereira informed Anwar via letter that he was required to give his statement at the Kuala Lumpur police station by 2 pm local time on Wednesday.
Mohamad Bakri Zinin, the head of the criminal investigations department, had warned that failure to show up at the station might precipitate his client's arrest, Sankara said, speaking at Anwar's home.
He stressed Anwar would comply with the police order, but was prepared to be arrested nonetheless.
Last month, a former aide lodged a report alleging Anwar had sodomized him.
Anwar, who was charged and jailed in 1998 for sodomy and corruption but later freed on the sodomy charges, has slammed the accusations as a political conspiracy to prevent him from taking over the government.
The former deputy prime minister and current opposition leader led a three-party alliance to major gains in the March 8 elections, where the ruling government was denied a two-thirds majority for the first time.
Anwar claimed the opposition alliance was capable of taking over the government by mid-September after several government lawmakers have reportedly agreed to switch their allegiance.
