``In my expert opinion Anwar Ibrahim was assaulted over the left forehead and neck and received blunt trauma that resulted in residual bruises over the left upper and lower eyelids,''Dr Ahmad Skukri Mohammed said in a written medical report after examining Anwar yesterday.

Earlier in the day Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad said Anwar, his former deputy and groomed heir, could have inflicted the bruises on himself.

Anwar told a Kuala Lumpur court yesterday that police had punched and slapped him after he was arrested on September 20, setting off a firestorm of criticism from rights groups, opposition parties and foreign governments.

But Mahathir said Anwar may have provoked the police or injured himself to gain sympathy.