Jailed and hospitalised former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim is most unlikely to be sent back to prison today, said his lawyer Sankara Nair today.

Sankara, who met Anwar at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) this afternoon, said he was quite certain that Anwar would not be returned to the Sungai Buloh prison either today or tomorrow.

Speculations of Anwar being sent back to prison were rife after Anwar refused to sign a letter of consent from the hospital last week to accept surgery on a back ailment.

Anwar refused the surgery option offered by HKL in a 25-page letter to its director Dr Abdul Razak Syed Kechik, in which he had stated that his right to the choice of treatment has been politicised and denied.

On April 25, Abdul Razak sent a letter to Anwar, who has been undergoing treatment at HKL since November last year, providing him the option of either undergoing surgery locally or returning to prison.

The authorities have since been tight-lipped as to when Anwar's transfer back to prison will take place.

Anwar, who is serving a 15-year jail sentence on charges of corruption and sodomy, had requested for German spine specialist Dr Thomas Hoogland to perform the endoscopic microsurgery - a method which has a higher success rate than the microscopic disectomy surgery offered by the hospital.

The authorities have nevertheless proposed that the foreign specialist performs his surgery in Malaysia.

However, Hoogland ruled out operating on Anwar at HKL after his expertise was widely questioned in the local media by Abdul Razak and the government.

'Green light'

Internet news provider [#1] AgendaMalaysia [/#] had reported sources stating Anwar would be sent back to prison today after the panel doctor examining the former deputy prime minister was supposedly gave the 'green light'.

AgendaMalaysia also reported that Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, had informed lawyers, family members and her personal assistant that the authorities have already decided to transfer her husband back to prison.

However, her assistant told malaysiakini that Wan Azizah had received a letter of approval from the prison authorities allowing her to visit her husband at the hospital tomorrow between 4pm and 6pm.

A source told malaysiakini that Anwar would most likely be returned to prison later this week, probably on Thursday.