The one and only irritant in ties between Malaysia and the United States has been removed with the release yesterday of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim from prison, hailed by Washington as a victory for justice and the rule of law.

Anwar was freed by Malaysia's highest court on the grounds that his conviction for sodomy, a crime in mainly Muslim Malaysia, was wrong.

In welcoming the court's decision, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "This is a victory for the rule of law and the judicial process in Malaysia."

He said the United States hoped the medical treatment Anwar was planning to undergo in Germany for an acute back injury would restore him to good health.

The United States, which had considered Anwar a political prisoner, had repeatedly emphasized that his jailing since 1998 was wrong.

"This is something we've raised publicly and privately over the years," Boucher said. "We have certainly made clear our view that he should not have been in prison to begin with."

Rhetoric and reality

Officials said the US authorities last raised the Anwar issue when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made his first visit to Washington in July after taking over from Mahathir Mohamad in November.

The once immensely popular Anwar, who enjoyed strong links with Washington, was sacked by Mahathir and jailed for 15 years shortly afterwards on corruption and sodomy charges, which Anwar said were trumped up to prevent him from mounting a political challenge to his boss.

He had already completed a sentence for corruption and had faced at least another five years in prison until Thursday's court decision.

"His release basically has removed the one and only irritant that was in our relationship," said John Malott, the US ambassador to Malaysia at the peak of the Anwar crisis.

Malott said bilateral ties were hit during his tenure largely because of Mahathir's persistent "bashing" of the United States, adding that the leader had "allowed the rhetoric to get out of hand.

"Mahathir was primarily responsible for the deterioration of relations."

Malott said "the nice thing about Abdullah is that he is closing the gap between the rhetoric and reality."

An axe to grind

Abdullah, he said, was moving to forge better ties not only with the United States but also Singapore and Australia, both of which were also targets of heavy criticism from Mahathir.

Some analysts say the United States had an axe to grind against Mahathir because he had openly advocated the formation of an Asian trade bloc centred on Japan, and had imposed capital controls and refused to submit to reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Mahathir was also sharply critical of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Under Abdullah, relations are again warming. During his visit to the White House last July, he told President George W Bush that Malaysia was prepared to mobilise an international Muslim force to rehabilitate Iraq.

Ernest Bower, the president of the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Council, said Anwar's release was "another piece of evidence" that transparency and rule of law was the fundmental focus for Abdullah.

"In that sense I guess the court decision tends to have a positive resonance here," he said.

The United States is Malaysia's biggest trading partner and key investor.