Anwar accuses govt of 'dirty tricks' in by-election

Malaysia's opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday accused the government of using "dirty tricks" to disrupt his campaign to return to parliament in a by-election.
Anwar, a former deputy premier who was jailed on sodomy and corruption charges a decade ago, is expected to win the August 26 ballot in his home state of Penang, in the latest step of his campaign to seize power.
But he said the government was exploiting tensions between Malaysia's races, and highlighting new sodomy allegations against him, to try to avoid a landslide victory for the 61-year-old opposition leader.
"These are dirty tactics. It is a malicious campaign on their part and is completely immoral," he told a press conference.
Anwar said the ruling coalition was playing on rifts between Malaysia's majority Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, by sending SMS text messages to Malay villagers slamming Anwar as an "agent of the Chinese."