Jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's doctors have advised him not to further delay surgery to correct his slipped disc, which has caused his health to deteriorate in recent weeks.

His lawyer Sankara Nair said a panel of doctors at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur as well as Anwar's personal doctors have told him that he should opt for surgery "within weeks".

"When I visited him today, he appeared rather worried and low in spirits. He is anxious because this will be a major and complicated surgery," Nair told malaysiakini .

He declined to comment when asked whether Anwar has changed his mind about surgery being performed locally instead of in Germany, as he has repeatedly requested and which has been rejected by the government.

Last Tuesday, he was rushed from the Sungai Buloh prison to the hospital where he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. This is believed to have worsened his backache and affected his kidney and neurological functions.

Letter to CJ

Nair also said Anwar has written to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, urging the Federal Court to fix an early date to deliver judgment on his appeal against a sodomy conviction.

The decision was to have been delivered yesterday, but the court postponed it at the eleventh hour without providing reasons.

Analysts said the sudden turn of event was linked to the visit by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the United States, France and United Kingdom this week, fearing that an unfavourable decision for Anwar could see pressure piled on the premier there.

"He applied to the chief justice to get an early date for the decision before he goes for surgery," Nair said, but declined to elaborate.

Two months ago, a three-member panel - comprising Justices Abdul Hamid Mohamad and Rahmah Hussain and Court of Appeal judge Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud - heard extensive submissions from lawyers.

They then said they would announced their decision "as soon as possible" and later fixed the date for July 22.

This will be the ex-politician's last chance to have his nine-year sentence for sodomy quashed, on the grounds that the conduct of the trial four years ago was deeply flawed.

He is appealing against a High Court decision on Aug 8, 2000, which convicted him and adopted brother Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja of sodomising Anwar's former family driver Azizan Abu Bakar. His application to the Court of Appeal was rejected on April 18 last year.

In a related development, the Federal Court has fixed Aug 10 - instead of Aug 9 - to hear Anwar's application to review its own decision on the conviction and sentence for corruption. The court registry informed Nair of this by fax.