Sodomy trial of Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim postponed

Kuala Lumpur: The sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed by a week for the judge to consider whether to step down from the case because of the Malaysian opposition leader's claim that he might be biased.

Anwar's defense team says it is skeptical about High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah's impartiality in the politically explosive case, which could result in Anwar's imprisonment if he is convicted of sodomising a 24-year-old male former aide.

Anwar's lawyer, Karpal Singh, on Wednesday criticised the judge's refusal to penalize a newspaper that published a photograph and headline last week that Anwar's lawyers believe were misleading.

Mohamad Zabidin set February 18 to deliver a decision on whether he should exit the case.