Two policemen have been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl who was at the centre of a diplomatic row between Malaysia and Philippines last year, reports said today.

Mohamad Fauzi Yahya, 34, and Ahmad Nazri Zainurddin, 33, pleaded not guilty yesterday to raping the girl at a temporary detention centre in Sabah between July 27 and August 12 last year, The Star said.

The sessions court in the state capital Kota Kinabalu fixed May 26-29 for the trial and denied bail for the two men who face a maximum 20 years in jail if convicted, the newspaper said.