Rahim, in a statement put out by the national news agency Bernama, said his resignation would become effective tomorrow.

``I, as the inspector-general of the royal Malaysia police, assume full responsibility,'' for the beating of the sacked deputy prime minister on the night of his arrest on September 20.

His resignation comes the day after prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said he may seek an independent investigation into Anwar's police beating.

Rahim's resignation and Mahathir's first public comments on the beating of his one-time protege come amid an avalanche of criticism over a statement on the beating by the attorney-general's office.

Attorney-general Mohtar Abdullah on Tuesday finally conceded police were ``fully responsible'' for certain injuries inflicted to Anwar while inpolice custody.

Mohtar, however, did not name the police responsible. He also insisted that Anwar had exaggerated the facts of his beating. He said the probe was still under way and that police found guilty of hitting Anwar would be punished.

Opposition criticism slamming the statement was joined by a rare denouncement from within the ruling 14-party coalition, the national front.

The Malaysian people's movement party, or Parti Gerakan, called the attorney general's statement ``not acceptable'', the government-backed New Straits Times reported today.

Earlier, Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad will consider calls for an independent inquiry into the beating of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim under police custody, press reports said today.

Mahathir vowed to study demands for a new inquiry after the country's attorney general held police fully responsible for Anwar's injuries under detention, but stopped short of naming the culprits.

Anwar was arrested in September under internal-security lawsafter being sacked by Mahathir, and later charged with 10 counts of corruption and sexual misconduct which he dismisses as the result of a conspiracy.

Anwar's wife has said that Mahathir, as home minister in charge of the police, should also be held responsible for Anwar's injuries and should apologise for earlier remarks suggesting they were self-inflicted.

Malaysia's leading daily the New Straits Times quoted Mahathir as saying that if an independent inquiry was what everybody wanted, he would consider it.

``I will have to study it. I have not thought about it,'' Mahathir said after political groups demanded a new inquiry and criticised the pace of an internal police probe into the alleged abuses against Anwar.

Mahathir said that although the police had been generally blamed for Anwar's injuries, the whole police force should not be held responsible. ``We have to know everything in detail,'' he was quoted as saying.