(AFP) Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim launched his final appeal against a corruption conviction today, with scores of supporters and diplomats present in court.

A cheerful looking Anwar, who said he was still suffering from severe back pain was brought into the Federal Court in a wheelchair, wearing neck and back braces, escorted by a dozen prison guards and policemen.

"I'm in pain. The journey has made it worse. I had to take strong pain killers," a smiling Anwar said when a Western diplomat asked after his health. Anwar says his back was injured in an assault by police after his arrest.

In answer to another question, Anwar denied a report that he had a secret meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently.

Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, president of opposition party Keadilan, his daughter and other family members hugged him in court.

"His spirit is high. He remains optimistic," Wan Azizah told AFP .

Outside the courtroom, about 100 supporters chanted: "Reformasi (reform). Long live Anwar. Down, down (Prime Minister) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad)."

Activist Nasir Isa, 44, holding a banner saying: "It is a sin to forget Anwar", told AFP there had been a decline in support for Anwar's reform struggle.

High security

Some 200 policemen, including riot police with water cannon, were deployed at the Federal Court building, the country's highest.

The appeal was adjourned until the afternoon after about an hour when discrepencies were found in the pagination of the court record.

Anwar's lead counsel Raja Aziz Addruse earlier said that the evidence of the two key witnesses - former special branch director Mohamad Said Awang and his deputy Amir Junus - lacked credibility.

The hearing is the last legal avenue for Anwar to overturn his conviction for corruption and subsequent six-year jail sentence after the Court of Appeal dismissed his case in April 2000.

The former deputy to Mahathir, sacked in 1998, was convicted in April 1999 of corruption - abusing his powers to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct - and jailed for another nine years for sodomy in August 2000.

Anwar has also filed an appeal against the sodomy conviction but no date has been set for the hearing.

The three-man appeal bench in the corruption case is headed by Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah and is set down for hearing until Thursday.