[Esmeralfaf]

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that he will tour the country to declare his innocence ahead of the verdict of a sodomy trial he says was cooked up to bar him from coming polls.

Anwar, who heads the Parti Keadilan Rakyat and is the figurehead of a strengthening opposition alliance, will visit nine states in a whirlwind six-day tour beginning on Jan 3. The verdict is set for Jan 9.

"A lot of people pray that I would be acquitted. I will reiterate my innocence during the tour," he told AFP.

Once heir-apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar, 64, has been fighting charges since June 2008 that he sodomised a former political aide.

Sodomy is illegal in Muslim- majority Malaysia and Anwar faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.