Opposition leader leads large protest

On 2 July 2008 opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim led a protest involving between 7,000-15,0000 of his supporters, vowing to seize power from the current government. Anwar encouraged his supporters to continue to stage protests throughout the country and announced plans for a large-scale anti-inflation rally that is set to take place on 6 July. The protest comes a week after a former aid accused Anwar of allegedly performing acts of sodomy. These allegations -- combined with corruption charges currently being levied against him by the Malaysian government -- prompted Anwar to seek refuge at the Turkish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the 28-29 June weekend. Anwar later left the safe haven to launch a campaign to remove the "corrupt" Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government.