KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (AFP) - Lawyers for Malaysia's ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim ran into problems Wednesday after his old passport was mislaid as they tried to prove he could not have sodomised his wife's former driver.

Anwar and his co-accused Sukma Darmawan are charged with sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar at Sukma's apartment on "one night at 7.45pm, between January and March, 1993."

Prosecutors earlier in the trial had twice amended the charge to change the year of the alleged offence despite defence objections.

Lead counsel Christopher Fernando said the defence would show that Anwar had an alibi from 11 February, 1993, onwards.

Fernando submitted photocopies of his client's old passport to show his movements at that time but Arifin asked for the original document.

"How did these photocopies come about? It must have come from the original. Where is the passport, who photostated it?" the judge said.

The lawyer replied that the old passport had expired and was not in Anwar's custody.

The defence also say that the bed on which the act is alleged to have taken place in Sukma's luxury apartment in the suburb of Bangsar only arrived on February 12.

Sodomy is punishable in mainly Muslim Malaysia by up to 20 years'jail.Judge Arifin Jaka adjourned the hearing at midday to give time for defence counsels to search for the passport. The case continues Thursday.

Sankara Nair, another of Anwar's lawyers, told AFP the defence intended to use the passport and a record of events that Anwar had attended to prove he was not at the scene.

The missing passport would not set back the defence's case, he said."We can still go on with the photocopies. The person who lost it will just have to come to court to inform the judge about it," he added.

Anwar was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as deputy premier and finance minister on September 2, 1998. He was jailed for six years last April for abusing his official powers to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct.

Supporters staged protests as his sodomy trial resumed Tuesday after a two-month break. Riot police arrested 11 people after breaking up one gathering.

The 11 appeared Wednesday in a nearby court and were charged with illegal assembly, which can carry a one-year jail term. They were bailed pending trial.

Anwar earlier Wednesday gave evidence of his arrest by police on September 20, 1998 after leading mass anti-government rallies.

He said he had written to then-police chief Rahim Noor and the attorney general, telling them he was ready to surrender himself when required."But I was arrested and the manner it was done was shocking because I was treated like a terrorist. Police commandos charged and broke my front door," he said.

Anwar said senior police officers, who were previously polite to him, "showed not only prejudice but personal animosity towards me" after his arrest.

He said he was blindfolded and brought to the police headquarters, where the criminal investigation department director ordered him handcuffed and to be "treated like a common criminal."

He said he was initially told his detention was under the criminal code. But following an assault by Rahim on the night of his arrest, police told him he was arrested under the Internal Security Act which allows detention without trial.

"My suspicion is that they want to cover up the assault," he added.While in custody, Anwar said he made a police statement. "I strongly denied the allegations. There were a few allegations, including sodomy."

The judge refused to allow more defence questions about Rahim's assault, saying it would be the focus of another trial.

Rahim stepped down as police chief in January and later admitted the assault at a public inquiry.

But he pleaded not guilty to "wilfully attempting to cause grievous injury" to Anwar, who suffered a black eye and bruised arm. Rahim will go on trial on March 6.