A Malaysian court yesterday denied jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim?s request to be freed on bail, prompting the opposition hero to lash out at the judges and the country?s new and old prime ministers.

Jailed in 1998, Anwar completed five of the 15 years he was sentenced for sodomy and abuse of power when his nemesis, Mahathir Mohamad, stepped aside last October for Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to become prime minister.

?Prime Minister Abdullah must free himself from the stranglehold brought about by the political machination of Dr Mahathir,? Anwar said in a handwritten statement distributed by his lawyers after the judges delivered their ruling.

Abdullah is expected to call an election in the coming months and Anwar?s release would have given the opposition a boost, so there was little surprise in the Anwar camp at the court?s decision.

Wearing a neck brace and dressed in a blazer, Anwar, whose lawyers say needs urgent medical treatment abroad for a back ailment, appeared agitated but defiant, sparring with the judges who turned down his plea.

Addressing the courtroom after the judges left, he delivered a scathing assessment of Abdullah?s agenda to raise ethical standards and tackle corruption.

?What is ?Mr Nice Guy? talking about ? that we are fair and democratic is sheer hypocrisy,? he said referring to the new premier by one of his nicknames.

?You create this deceit, you are creating the atmosphere that they (things) will be changed. What change are you talking about? The judiciary is spineless and being used by the executive.? He said the domestic media was muzzled and he took a swipe at a recent cabinet reshuffle, which left the same faces in place.

?You talk about separation of power and yet you keep ministers who are corrupt.?

Anwar?s critics and enemies maintain he was also involved in money politics during his climb up the ladder to become Mahathir?s protege and heir apparent. The sacking of Anwar sparked the worst political crisis of Mahathir?s long rule. After rallying opposition in a challenge that culminated in street protests, Anwar was arrested and later jailed following trials labelled politically tainted by Western governments.

Mahathir said the trials were fair. All of Anwar?s earlier pleas for bail were turned down and yesterday a panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal took 15 minutes to decide that Anwar?s case did not fall into the ?special or exceptional circumstances? category to warrant granting bail pending his appeal against the sodomy conviction. ?Don?t worry, the struggle will go on,? Anwar said, as he sent his love to his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who attended the hearing. Up to 200 Anwar supporters gathered outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, the new administrative capital built in Mahathir?s last years.

They shouted ?Reformasi?, the opposition rallying cry, and waved banners and posters as some tried to block the four-wheel drive vehicle ferrying Anwar back to prison. Police earlier this week barred hundreds of Anwar supporters from holding a rally at the nearby port of Klang, but there are plans for a mass rally in Penang next month.

Last April, Anwar completed two-thirds of a six-year sentence for abuse of power, making him eligible for release from that conviction, but he has a nine-year sentence for sodomising his wife?s former driver still to serve.

Once feted by the West and regarded by Washington as a political prisoner, Anwar became less of an issue after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, as his ties to the conservative Islamist opposition weighed against him.

Jalil Hamid