KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Monday left the Turkish ambassador's house in Kuala Lumpur where he took refuge after being hit with sodomy accusations, a witness said.

Mr Anwar, 60, was accompanied by his wife and daughter as he left the residence. On Sunday he fled to the embassy nearby, saying he feared a government assassination attempt.

The former deputy premier, who was sacked a decade ago and jailed on sex and corruption charges, said he left only when the government guaranteed his safety.

'I pray enough will be done for my security,' he told reporters.

Mr Anwar said the charges were an attempt to derail his political comeback at the helm of a resurgent opposition, and came as he was poised to re-enter parliament with the backing of four defectors from the ruling coalition.

'That is why they brought these allegations against me,' he said. 'It is an attempt to destroy my political career.'

His lawyer Sankara Nair said there was 'no question' of him being arrested.

'The home minister and deputy prime minister have given assurances for his safety. We take that assurance,' he said.

Earlier, Mr Anwar said the allegation he committed sodomy with a young aide was probably a ploy to distract public attention from rising food and fuel prices and other scandals afflicting Mr Abdullah's government.

'It's an intention to deflect public attention. But people can't be bought and misled by the (mainstream) media.'

Earlier this month, the government raised petrol prices by 41 per cent and diesel by 63 per cent to prevent subsidies from eating up a third of its budget. The move has sparked widespread anger and stoked inflation already at a 22-month high.

The former deputy premier had said he has been engineering defections aimed at overturning Mr Abdullah's majority in parliament at a time when Mr Abdullah was facing pressures from his own party to step down.

Mr Anwar said the sodomy accusation pre-empted his planned announcement this week that he would be running for a seat in parliament through a by-election and that four ruling coalition lawmakers would be defecting to the opposition coalition.

'The whole government was at stake,' he said. 'Four MPs already cleared with me.'

Political tensions have risen sharply in Malaysia since polls on March 8 that dealt Mr Abdullah's National Front coalition its worst electoral setback amid voter discontent over rising prices and corruption.

The Front lost power in five of Malaysia's 13 states as well as its traditional two-thirds majority in parliament. -- REUTERS, AFP