Bomb scare hits ex-minister's hearing

Anwar says the charges against him are part of a conspiracy

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A bomb scare in Malaysia's federal court building has delayed the jailed former deputy prime minister's appeal over his corruption conviction.

Officials say an anonymous caller phoned in the bomb threat on Monday, shortly before Anwar Ibrahim's case was due to resume, and the hearing will not begin again until the building is thoroughly searched.

Anwar is serving sentences totaling 15 years for corruption and sodomy, a crime in mostly Muslim Malaysia.

The ex-minister claims the charges were part of a conspiracy to prevent him from challenging Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for power. The government denies it.

Three federal court judges were due to hear Anwar's appeal against a 1999 corruption conviction. Three days of legal argument were heard in February, and five more were scheduled for this week.

Black eye

Anwar waved to a handful of supporters as he was brought to the courthouse, close to Merdeka Square, where he had drawn a crowd of around 30,000 in 1998 at a rally challenging the Mahathir's rule.

After the evacuation a bomb disposal team was about to use a robot to destroy a suspect bag until a man claimed ownership, and the search for a possible bomb resumed.

Some of Anwar's high profile abroad has eroded as his Parti Keadilan Nasional continues its alliance with the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

His first court appearance in 1998 with a black eye made him a hero in the United States and cast Mahathir as a villain.

But the prime minister has turned the tables since September 11, arresting dozens of suspected Islamic militants and winning praise from Washington.