PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: A US senator has urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi not to repeat mistakes of the past and to stop political attacks against PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joseph R. Biden said charges against Anwar closely mirrored those levied against him in 1998.

"Then too, politically motivated allegations were made against Anwar at the precise moment when he seemed poised to challenge a sitting Prime Minister," he said in a statement yesterday.

"I am shocked and disheartened by the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim. This action appears to be motivated by political considerations."

He said Anwar's mistreatment and imprisonment a decade ago had discredited Malaysia in the eyes of the world community and tarnished former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's reputation