Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader, has been charged with sodomy against a male aide.

In a packed Kuala Lumpur courtroom guarded by 200 riot squad officers armed with water cannon, Mr Anwar was charged with "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," a charge that carries a 20 year prison sentence.

Pleading not guilty, Mr Anwar, the leader of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), described the accusation as "malicious" and said it was politically motivated. He has always denied the claim, made earlier this year by a 23-year-old male aide, but he briefly took refuge in the Turkish Embassy because of death threats which he reportedly received after news of the allegations emerged.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and 10 years ago Mr Anwar was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of sex with his male driver. He insisted that the charge was trumped up for political reasons by the ruling United Malay National Organisation (Umno), because of the challenge which Mr Anwar, then deputy prime minister, was planning against his boss, the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad. He served six years before the charges were over-turned.

He was faced with the new charges after he announced he was planning to seize power from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Mr Anwar, who led the new opposition coalition to strong gains in a general election earlier this year, said there was no evidence to support the allegations. He accused Mr Abdullah of engineering the charges to stop him from re-entering parliament in a by-election later this month.

He was granted bail after hearing the charges against him.

Security was tight throughout Kuala Lumpur to prevent protests by Mr Anwar's supporters, with road blocks set up on major routes into the city and an armed guard outside the court.

A recent opinion poll indicates that most Malaysians do not believe the charges against Mr Anwar, according to the BBC.

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