KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — Seputeh MP Teresa Kok will discontinue her RM30 million defamation lawsuit against former Selangor mentri besar Mohd Khir Toyo after the latter today apologised for blog post alleging she had ordered mosques to turn down the azan or call for prayer in 2008.

Khir today read out the apology before an open court and agreed to pay an unspecified sum as Kok’s legal costs.

“I, Mohamad Khir Toyo, the first defendant in the suit, without admission to liability apologise to YB Teresa Kok Suh Sian (picture) for causing the publication on my blog www.drkhir.com on July 9, 2008 as stated in the statement of claim. I regret publishing the same and agree to pay costs,” he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini.

In 2008, Kok filed the defamation action against Khir over a blog post that alleged she had approached two mosques in Selangor and sought for them to lower the volumes of the Muslim call for prayer broadcast five times daily.

She also sued Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia and its columnist, Datuk Mohd Zaini Hassan, over an article about the issue.

The matter dove into added controversy when Kok was then held under the now-annulled Internal Security Act (ISA) over the claims.

The DAP lawmaker withdrew her suit against the Malay language newspaper and Zaini late last month, but also ceded her right to renew her action.