KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (AFP) - 11:27 - A Malaysian court Saturday rejected the appeal by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim against his conviction and six-year jail sentence last April for abuse of power.

Anwar, who says he fell foul of a high-level conspiracy, angrily denounced what he called "political persecution using the courts" and said he would challenge the decision at the country's highest court.

Appeal court president Lamin Yunus said in his written judgement: "We find no valid ground to depart from the finding of the learned judge... we hereby dismiss the appeal against conviction."

"The appeal against sentence is also dismissed and the sentence as passed is affirmed."

Judge Augustine Paul had jailed Anwar in April 1999 for corruption -- abusing his official powers to cover up allegations of heterosexual and homosexual misconduct.

Lamin said the decision of the three appeal court judges was unanimous but did not read out his judgement.

Anwar sprang to his feet as the three judges walked out of the court and demanded they give reasons for their ruling. The judges ignored him.

"Let the court not be a tool of the executive to legitimise political persecution. I'm appalled by that," Anwar shouted as he hugged his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and two of his daughters.

"They don't even have the guts to say it (their decision) out," he added.

"They dismiss in one sentence without any reason.

"This is before the UMNO (ruling party) general assembly in two weeks' time. They have no bloody guts and they want me to call him (Lamin) your lordship."

In a handwritten statement to reporters, Anwar said the appeal court's decision was a "shameful blow" to the judiciary.

"I will continue this legal process even though it is doubtful and has its limits... I will bring this appeal to the federal court," he added.

Pawancheek Marican, one of Anwar's lawyers, said they had two weeks to file a notice of appeal to the federal court and would consult Anwar first.

Anwar, 52, was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on September 2, 1998, and detained 18 days later after leading mass anti-government protests.

He says he is the victim of a high-level conspiracy because he intended to expose corruption and was seen as a political threat to Mahathir.

He is now separately on trial for sodomy, punishable by up to 20 years in jail, but has been refused permission to call Mahathir as a witness in that case.

Anwar's appeal began on February 28 and lasted nine days. The three judges had then reserved judgment.

"We did not expect much but there was a bit of hope at the beginning," Wan Azizah told AFP. "I was prepared for the worst."

Wan Azizah, who founded the opposition National Justice Party just before her husband was sentenced, said her daughters were very upset at the ruling.

She said her youngest daughter, seven-year-old Nurul Hana, asked her: "When is papa coming home?"

Wan Azizah described as "shocking" the way the decision had been announced, with the judgement not read out in court.

The US State Department and international legal groups have criticised the conduct of the corruption trial. The State Department in its annual human rights survey said Anwar was charged for "political reasons."

"Improper conduct by the police and prosecutors, alomng with many questionable rulings by the judge, denied Anwar a fair opportunity to defend himself," said the report released in February.

This month four international legal groups strongly criticised what they called government interference in Malaysia's legal system and expressed "serious concern" about the fairness of the corruption trial.