As Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's Feb 2 sodomy trial draws closer, he is banking on one of his best assets - his oratory skills - to deflect the impending damage from the expected blow-by-blow trial coverage.

Since Tuesday, Anwar has been delivering a series of speeches to the opposition faithful across Selangor - two venues a night, with more to follow - to put across the message that charges were trumped up to dampen the fledgling opposition.

NONE Last night, Anwar was in a community hall in Puchong, reciting a laundry list of wrongdoings by arch rivals Umno and its leader Najib Abdul Razak to an estimated 800-strong crowd.

Anwar took digs at the Barisan Nasional government's handling of current affairs such as the missing jet engines and the church bombings, woven in with his usual repertoire of bashing a corrupt Umno and invoking the Mongolian spectre of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The crux of it all: the government will do just about anything to shut a resurgent Anwar up, including dragging him through a reputation-damaging sodomy trial.

To his defence, Anwar reminded his audience that two medical reports - one by Kuala Lumpur general hospital and Pusrawi Hospital - stated that the accuser, former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan ( left ), did not show signs that he was sodomised.

"We have the medical report, takde bocor (which said there is no penetration). So we (tried to get the) court to strike out the case," said Anwar, during his 40-minute speech.

Debunks sodomy claim

Anwar narrated a hypothetical false rape case - where he, most likely intentionally, mispronounced the victim‘s name as ‘Rosmah' - to stress that the validity of such cases lies on the medical report.

the charge against anwar ibrahim sodomy allegation trial 070808 "The doctor said there was no tear or penetration. Tak masuk (nothing went in). What are they going to charge (me) with? Digging (his) ear?" asked Anwar to roars of laughter from the crowd.

He further alleged that other doctors, from government hospitals, appear to be conspiring to incriminate him with DNA evidence.

All this, said Anwar, was orchestrated by his political enemies because Najib was worried about the strengthening of the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

"Why are they doing this? Because I (choose to) fight them," he said, prompting nods of approval from the floor.

Though confident of winning, Anwar hinted to his audience that there is a possibility that he will be found guilty, but only because he is a victim of a grand conspiracy.

"I want Najib to know this: The question is not whether (the opposition) will have Anwar or not. The people will seek their rights, freedom and continue the fight," he said.

NONE After shoring up his credentials as a crusader against Umno, vanguard of Islam, the champion of the Malays and pleading innocence to the sodomy charges, Anwar turned to the controversy surrounding the use of the term ‘Allah' by non-Muslims.

Trying to calm ‘Allah' row

Unlike rival Najib, who wants exclusive rights to Muslims, Anwar has been threading the middle path since the controversy erupted, stating that generally, adherents of Abrahamic faiths should be allowed to use the term ‘Allah', as had the Middle-Eastern Jews and Christians for centuries.

In the Malaysian context, Anwar, like PAS, said Christian use of the term could be allowed on condition that it was not used to confuse Muslims.

In his speech last night, Anwar said the government policy now - to allow Christian use of ‘Allah' only Penang, Federal Territories, Sabah and Sarawak - would cause more confusion.

NONE "Imagine you are driving in a car with people of different faiths in Puchong, where they can only say ‘ insya tuhan‘ . Once they cross the border (into Kuala Lumpur), only then can they say ‘ insya Allah' (God willing)," said Anwar in jest.

Anwar later quoted Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Wahbah Zuhaili - his personal friends and two of the most prominent Islamic scholars in the world - who found that there is no legal or religious justification to claim exclusivity to the term 'Allah'.

He said that while it was all right to disagree with the two scholars, he said Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia should not repeat claims that Christians are out to undermine Islam.

"(They claim) we are under threat. We are under attack, thus Muslims must unite! (I say) unite against corruption, cruelty, improving living conditions and not uniting to defend the corruption BN," he said.

Tonight, Anwar's nightly road shows will continue in Slim River and Sungai Manik in Perak. On Sunday, he will be speaking in Ampang Jaya, Selangor and Kampung Kerichi, Kuala Lumpur.