Deputy home minister Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali called on Malaysians, confused by the political events of the past three weeks, to ``have faith'' in the judicial system.

``Allow the legal proceedings to commence,'' he told mediapersons last night. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he personally interviewed people who said they engaged in illegal sex acts with his ousted deputy.

Mahathir, who sacked Anwar as his deputy and finance minister on September 2, said the allegations were so vile he decided to question people himself.

Tajol Rosli said Anwar would face a dozen sexual misconduct charges, including sodomy. He said Anwar would have been charged in criminal court on Monday, but thousands of his supporters surrounded the courthouse, forcing police to postpone the hearing.

``He will be charged based on the same reasons why the prime minister sacked him,'' Tajol Rosli said. ``The charges are all related to sex scandals not for other reasons.''

Last night, the government disclosed that Anwar, arrested on Sunday under a colonial security law that allows imprisonment without trial, was being held at Kuala Lumpur's police headquarters.

Eleven of his associates have also been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and more than 100 supporters were detained during the courthouse rally on Monday.

Anwar s wife, Azizah Ismail, said she had not seen her husband since police officers smashed into their house and dragged him away on Sunday night.

A Malaysian court meanwhile freed a former private secretary to Anwar on Wednesday, the national Bernama news agency said.

The aide, Mohamad Ahmad, was taken into custody on September 15 for five days in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct and treason against Anwar made in a book, `50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Become Prime Minister

.

The remand order was extended for a further six days, and was due to expire tomorrow, Bernama said. Mohamad was freed after his wife and lawyers applied to the court for the police to produce evidence against him, Bernama said.