Ex-jailed deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has welcomed US Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement on the flaws of his corruption and sodomy trials.

His lawyer Sankara Nair told malaysiakini today that Anwar said the statement had confirmed that despite the change of leadership, the US administration is firm on its stand that he (Anwar) is a political prisoner and was not accorded a fair trial.

Anwar is of the opinion that the confirmation has a far reaching effect as it proved that despite the Sept 11 attack on America and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's visit to the White House in Washington in May, their stand on the matter had not wavered, said Nair.

Anwar also said that contrary to what Mahathir likes every Malaysian to think, the US and the rest of the world recognised the poor human rights condition in the country and the persecution of Barisan Nasional's political enemies.

"He also expressed his hope that the court will take cognizance of the US' stand which echoed the views already made by the European Union (EU) and many international human rights group and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"Although the court is not bound by the views made by the US, EU, human rights groups and NGOs, Anwar hoped that it will take cognizance that the rest of the world is doubting the independence and integrity of the Malaysian judiciary," said Nair.

At a stop-over visit in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Powell told the press that the US administration has maintained that Anwar was wrongfully convicted of corruption and sodomy.

US maintains stand

"We believe that the [trial] was flawed. The court has acted on the first charge and that is the end of the process as envisioned in the Malaysian law. But we have always felt the trial was flawed," Powell said in reply to a question regarding Washington's stand on the issue.

Powell, who held talks with Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar before meeting the press, also revealed that he brought up the Anwar issue in his talk with the minister.

Nair also informed that Anwar had questioned Syed Hamid's comment on Powell's statement when the minister was reported to have said: "I also informed him (Powell) that as far as we are concerned, we do not always agree with cases decided in another country. There are a lot of cases not decided correctly in the United States."

By claiming that there are also a lot of cases wrongly decided in the US, Anwar said that Syed Hamid had admitted that his corruption and sodomy trials were not decided correctly.

"It appears to Anwar that Syed Hamid, who was representing the government, had admitted that the decisions were indeed wrong and unfair," said Nair.

Anwar is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison for corruption and sodomy offences.