Making the first visit by a US president to Malaysia in almost half a century, Barack Obama plans to shun Anwar Ibrahim, the country’s popular opposition leader who faces jail on a sodomy charge that is widely seen as politically motivated.

But Dr Anwar, sentenced to five years' jail on the rarely used colonial-era charge in March, stopped short of criticising Mr Obama, only saying that a meeting would have been “consistent with US democratic ideals and its foreign policy of promoting freedom and justice”.

US president Barack Obama won't meet with Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, pictured. Credit:AFP

US officials briefing reporters in Washington ahead of Mr Obama’s week-long tour of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, which starts on Tuesday, said there were no plans for Mr Obama to meet Dr Anwar, although they did not rule out a lower-level meeting.

Dr Anwar, 66, remains free pending an appeal on the charge that relates to allegations he had sex with a former male aide in 2008.