Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today he has withdrawn his appeal to have High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah recuse himself from his sodomy trial.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim contends that the High Court judge had erred in ruling that there was no real danger of bias if he continued to hear Anwar's sodomy case.

Retaining Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Opposition Leader will bring more problems not only to the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) but also to the opposition coalition as a whole, said Barisan Nasional (BN) Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin.

The Court of Appeal has fixed March 19 to hear the appeal by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim against the refusal of the judge in his sodomy trial to recuse himself from the hearing.

Former opposition chief and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said today Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can remain as the opposition leader even if the number of Members of Parliament (MP) from his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is less than that of the DAP.

They have been baited by a mischievous Barisan Nasional whose intent is to destroy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR in conjunction with his political persecution in the Malaysian courts for sodomy.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today lost his final legal challenge to procure key documents, including Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's DNA specimen sample, before the commencement of his sodomy trial.

The High Court here will hear on April 7 an application by Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman and the government to strike out a RM100 milion defamation suit filed by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim against them.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today he respected PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for the latter's criticism of the interference by Australian MPs in the sodomy trial of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Malaysia will let the law take its course in the sodomy trial involving Parti Keadilan Rakyat advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.