The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has cancelled its invitation because "dozens and dozens" of members are unhappy about Anwar's case, secretary general Sayyid M. Syeed told AFP.

He said protests might be staged if Mahathir appeared at the convention in Rosemont, Illinois from September 1-4.

Ex-deputy premier Anwar was convicted on August 8 of sodomy and jailed for nine years.

The sentence will not start until he has served a six-year sentence passed in April 1999 for abuse of official powers, meaning he could stay in jail until 2014.

Muzammil H. Siddiqi, president of ISNA, wrote to the Malaysian embassy in Washington on August 14 withdrawing the invitation, Syeed said.

His letter said society officials had been "flooded with messages from members expressing sadness and anger over the recent verdict against brother Anwar Ibrahim."

It added: "Because of the strong protest we are receiving from our members, we are unable to assure a favourable reception of the prime minister.

"This unfortunate situation has rendered us unable to stand by our invitation."

The letter continued: "We wanted him (Mahathir) to come and address Muslims as a leader who stands for justice ... without any drastic change in his decision, his presence will be a source of anger, protest and disturbance for the whole convention."

The verdict and sentence on Anwar, seen by some overseas leaders as politically motivated, sparked outrage at home and abroad. The Malaysian government says the courts are independent and Anwar received a fair trial.

Sufi Yusuf, Mahathir's assistant press secretary, said earlier Monday the prime minister was due to leave August 31 to address the convention. He said he had no information that the invitation had been withdrawn.

"Throughout the world the general consensus among Muslims and non-Muslims is that they consider it (the Anwar prosecution) a cooked-up event," Syeed told AFP.

He said his society saw Malaysia as a role model of how Muslims could co-exist harmoniously with other religions.

"If a personal vendetta results in the failure of that vision it would be a disaster and an undoing of (Mahathir's) own heritage."

Syeed said the Malaysian ambassador had proposed a meeting between Mahathir and ISNA "where we could initiate some process of reconciliation" between Mahathir and Anwar.

Anwar says top politicians led by the premier plotted to frame him because he planned to expose corruption and was seen as a political threat to Mahathir. The government denies any conspiracy and says it cannot interfere in the legal process.

The ISNA is an umbrella group of about 300 Islamic professional and community organisations. Membership of its affiliated organisations runs into several hundred thousand people, Syeed said.

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