KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Former US deputy secretary of defence Paul Wolfowitz has demanded his government back Malaysia’s opposition to free Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, warning Washington DC of challenges ahead with the vocal Muslim leader now behind bars on a purportedly “politically-motivated” sodomy charge.

Wolfowitz, who is reputed to be a close friend of Anwar in the past, also chided US President Barack Obama for refusing to personally meet the opposition leader during his visit to Malaysia last year.

He described Anwar as a “liberal Muslim” who often spoke up for religious moderation and tolerance, and suggested Obama’s snub to be a missed opportunity for the world superpower that is seeking to expand its position in Southeast Asia.

“Mr. Obama says correctly that we should support modern, tolerant Muslim leaders. Mr. Anwar is one such leader, a liberal Muslim who defends the rights of the Christian minority and quotes the Quran alongside Tocqueville, Locke and Jefferson.

“Now his voice for a tolerant, modern and peaceful Islam will be silenced,” Wolfowitz was quoted saying in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal today titled “When Obama’s diplomacy takes a divot”.

Wolfowitz said Malaysia, which has one of the highest per capita incomes of any Muslim-majority country as well as a relatively well-educated population and large religious minorities, had the potential to become a thriving Muslim democracy.

However, he said it is being held back by what he called an increasingly “dysfunctional and sclerotic rule” of a ruling party which had allegedly institutionalised corruption and favouritism.

“The White House managed to issue only a relatively anodyne statement expressing ‘serious concerns’ about Mr. Anwar’s conviction after the court ruling was announced earlier this month, while at the same time praising America’s ‘comprehensive partnership’ with Malaysia and committing to ‘expanding our cooperation on shared economic and security challenges affecting our countries’ interests in Asia and globally’,” he added.

Anwar has been attacked by Umno in the past over his close ties with Wolfowitz, who is also a former World Bank president and of Jewish descent.

Earlier this month, influential US paper The Washington Post urged Washington not to invite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the White House after Anwar’s imprisonment for sodomy.

The Washington Post said that the Federal Court’s decision to uphold the Court of Appeal’s sodomy conviction and five-year imprisonment sentence against Anwar — which came on the heels of a crackdown against activists under the Sedition Act 1948 — showed that Malaysia lacked an independent judiciary.

On February 10, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and sentenced the Permatang Pauh lawmaker to five years’ jail.