Lawyers for jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim will argue for bail tomorrow to enable the former heir apparent to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to undergo spinal surgery in Germany.

"Anwar is in desperate need of medical treatment. His condition has not got better. Bail will allow him to travel abroad for specialised spinal surgery," Sankara Nair, Anwar's lawyer, told AFP.

Anwar, 56, is suffering from a slipped disc in his back, which was allegedly injured when he was beaten up shortly after being detained in 1998.

He attends court hearings in a wheelchair and wears a neck brace. He has turned down a government suggestion that the surgery should be carried out locally, saying the required procedures are not available in Malaysia.

Political decision

A panel of three judges chaired by Pajan Singh Gill will hear the bail argument, which is expected to last two-days. A decision may be given immediately or judgement reserved, lawyers said.

Defence lawyers expect the prosecution to strongly oppose the bail application.

"He deserves bail (but) my client is keeping an open mind. He considers the decision on bail as political," Nair (photo) said.

If bail was granted, Anwar, who has already served four years in jail on a corruption charge, could walk free immediately if bail conditions were met, he said.

While the need for surgery is high on the list of arguments for bail, his lawyers will also press the case on the basis that Anwar's appeal against his nine-year sentence for a sodomy conviction has not yet been heard.

He has launched a last-ditch appeal in the Federal Court after the Court of Appeal in April refused to overturn the conviction.

No date for the hearing has been set, and his lawyers say he is entitled to bail as he has already completed his sentence on the corruption charge.

Mahathir's sacking of the charismatic and popular Anwar in September 1998 rocked Malaysian politics, with thousands of people taking to the streets to demonstrate their support for him.

On September 20 he led a massive anti-government protest but that evening he was arrested and badly beaten up by then-police chief Rahim Noor.

Within weeks of his arrest, Anwar was charged with sodomising an official driver and abusing his power to cover up the offence.

Spanner in bail process

Elizabeth Wong, secretary general of the National Human Rights Society, told AFP Anwar should be released on bail since he had not exhausted all his appeals.

"Technically, there is nothing that could keep him inside, with the exception of course of the political will of the government," she said.

"Unfortunately, for most people on the streets, they are of the opinion the government can put a spanner in the bail process," Wong said.

She said she hoped the judiciary would rise to the occasion and prove they were independent of government pressure.

Anwar's trials were criticised internationally, and the United States and human rights group Amnesty International list him as a political prisoner. - AFP