Jailed deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has returned the salvo by filing an 18-page affidavit this morning responding to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's affidavit.

Mahathir's 14-page affidavit, served on Anwar on Monday, challenged his former deputy's attempts to call him as a witness in the ongoing sodomy trial.

High Court Judge Arifin Jaka, who is yet to make a decision on Mahathir's court appearance, said the premier can respond if he so wishes.

"To be fair, show it (the affidavit) to him (Mahathir) but no reply is necessary," Arifin said. The judge yesterday remarked that no affidavits should be filed, stating he will "ignore them" as there seems to be "no finality".

The court is yet to decide if Mahathir should testify in his former deputy's sex trial as the premier and Anwar have been locking horns by filing affidavits challenging each other, resulting in very little progress in the case.

Anwar in the affidavit in reply states Mahathir saw him as a threat based on his political insecurity, the fear of his deputy mounting a challenge and anger on Anwar's meddling into the business dealings involving his eldest son, Mirzan Mahathir.

"I am capable of furnishing more evidence to show his other children were also beneficiaries of government contracts," Anwar said.

Stressing that Mahathir's appearance in court is crucial to expose a web of political conspiracy to topple him from power, Anwar said the premier should defend his allegations in court and "not hide behind the government machinery which he controls".

Anwar, reiterating his earlier stand, said the conspiracy to end his political career was orchestrated with Mahathir's approval.

"He (Mahathir) chose to fabricate allegations of fornication and sodomy as a political weapon to topple me from power as this is an effective way to smear the reputation of Islamic warriors and scholars all over the world," Anwar said.

Describing his former mentor as a person capable of "concealing the practice of corruption, murder, rape and sexual misconduct among his supporters", Anwar said he has information of Mahathir's sexual misconduct with women.

"I have information about the names of women concerned and other details. But, I have no intention of divulging (the information) unless forced to do so."

In concluding his affidavit, written in the court lock-up yesterday, Anwar appeals to the court to issue an order compelling Mahathir to testify in court.

"Do not allow him (Mahathir) to hide behind the mask of power and run away from justice and the truth," Anwar said.

The trial, meanwhile, was postponed to Friday when the defence is expected to call two more witnesses including Anwar's former political secretary, Mohd Azmin Ali.

Karpal Singh told the court he will, on Monday, argue the motion filed by Anwar detailing the relevance of Mahathir's evidence in court before moving on to the application filed by finance minister Daim Zainuddin to set aside the subpoena served on him to appear in court.

Deputy education minister and Mahathir's former political secretary Aziz Shamsuddin has notified, through his counsel, that he will take the witness stand when called by the defence.

Megat Junid, former domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, is still waiting to be called as a witness.

He, on March 27, filed a sworn statement stating Anwar is innocent of the sexual charges and alleged Aziz was never "friendly" with the jailed former DPM.

Megat, however, made some changes to the statement yesterday. The nature of the changes made is still unclear.

Anwar, following his shock dismissal from office, is serving a six-year jail term for corruption and stands trial for a separate charge of sodomy and sexual misconduct.

He is charged with forcing sex on ex-driver Azizan Abu Bakar with the aid of adopted brother Sukma Dermawan Sasmitaat Madja. Anwar has repeatedly denied all charges and says they were trumped up to end his political career.