The young man who accused opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sexually assaulting him is under police protection after receiving threats, officials said today.

anwar ibrahim and saiful bukhari azlan The allegations against Anwar, who says he is being targeted by the government to prevent him from seizing power, triggered a political storm which has widened as deputy premier Najib Abdul Razak also faces serious charges.

Criminal Investigation Department director Bakri Zinin said Anwar's accuser, a 23-year-old former student leader Saiful Bukhari Azlan who was a volunteer with the opposition, will remain under police protection until investigations are completed.

"He asked for it (the security measures). He said he was threatened and he is worried about his life," Bakri told AFP .

"He lodged a police report so under the constitution he has the right to ask for protection. He needs protection, so we have to provide it to him," he said.

Not seen in public since last week

Saiful has not been seen in public since July 2, shortly after providing police a statement which accused Anwar of sodomy - the same charge that saw the opposition leader jailed a decade ago.

The claim threatened to derail a stunning political comeback by Anwar, who was sacked as deputy premier in 1998 and jailed on sodomy and corruption allegations that he said were politically motivated.

In a bizarre series of claims and counter-claims, Anwar last week organised a press conference by a private investigator who linked Najib with a Mongolian woman who was brutally murdered in 2006.

A close associate of Najib is on trial for abetting the murder. The deputy premier angrily denied the allegations that he had an affair with the murdered woman, whose body was blown up with explosives in a remote forest.

The investigator then withdrew the accusations, and went missing. Police have issued an international alert in an attempt to locate him.

- AFP