He also threatened to file a legal deposition soon to show that his accuser, 23-year-old Saiful Bukhari Azlan, was closely associated with Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah and his special officer Khairul Annas.

Earlier in the day, Datuk Seri Anwar, 61, threw another punch at the government, filing a police report against the attorney-general and the police chief for fabricating evidence against him in a 1998 sodomy trial.

'I will fight every inch, I will fight them and fight them hard...No way I am going to give them an easy route this time. This is a second round of a dirty conspiracy,' he told a press conference at which he stressed that the latest accusation was part of a plot to wreck his political career.

The former deputy premier was jailed in 1998 for sodomy and corruption, but Mr Anwar's conviction for the sexual offence was overturned in 2004.

Yesterday he led scores of supporters shouting 'reformasi' - a battle-cry in the 1998 protests over his arrest - to the Selangor state police headquarters.

There he filed a three-page complaint against the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.

Mr Anwar told the press that there must be an 'immediate and transparent investigation' into the two officials as they are unlikely to be neutral this time round because of their roles in the previous probe.

In 1998, Mr Musa was the investigating officer and Tan Sri Abdul Gani the senior prosecutor when Mr Anwar was accused of sexually assaulting his driver and an aide.

At the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat headquarters, an angry Mr Anwar demanded that the government drop the 'frivolous and malicious' charges against him. 'This government and this leadership is under siege,' he said, adding that the allegation was to provoke 'anxiety and disgust among Muslims' against him.

There are no laws against homosexuality in Malaysia but sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by up to 20 years' jail.

Mr Anwar would not reveal more when asked about his alibi, saying that he has been advised by his lawyers to keep mum.

The latest accusation by Mr Saiful came as the opposition leader was trying to engineer defections from the ruling coalition to topple the government, which has rejected all charges of conspiracy.

Mr Anwar also claimed that several personalities involved in the 1998 trial had met him in private to seek his forgiveness.

'A lot of players have come, begged for forgiveness...a former chief justice met me, broke down and said, please forgive me, we were under orders. He was in tears.'

No names were mentioned.

Mr Anwar said that he had planned to announce where he will contest a by-election.

'This has been derailed for some days' because of the latest accusation, he said, adding that four BN MPs originally scheduled to defect to the opposition were still willing to do so.

Blogs were abuzz yesterday with rumours that several sources, including the intelligence unit of an unidentified neighbouring country, had told Mr Anwar's party of plans to assassinate him and that several hired killers had been brought into the country.

When asked about the source of the information, Mr Anwar declined to say more. 'I wouldn't dwell on that...the thing is that Azizah and the children and the leadership are concerned about my personal safety.'

hazlinh@sph.com.sg