Jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said today he would make a decision soon on whether he will undergo back surgery locally after being refused permission to travel abroad.

Anwar spoke to reporters when he was taken under armed escort to his father's house in a Kuala Lumpur suburb to pay his last respects to his older brother, Mohamad Mokhtar Ibrahim, 57, who died early today.

"We are discussing it with our doctors, and we will announce a decision soon," Anwar said.

The option offered by the government involved major surgery and it was a difficult decision to make but he wanted to get it over with, Anwar said.