Court Bars Defense of Ousted Official

Ousted Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, on trial on sex and corruption charges, was barred from using his main defense--that the charges are part of an alleged government plot to ruin him. The court ruled that Anwar and his lawyers should confine their defense to proving that he never abused his powers to cover up alleged sexual trysts. Anwar was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in September and arrested two weeks later. Anwar claims that he is a victim of a political conspiracy led by aides to Mahathir.