SINGAPORE, Aug 5 — The office of Singapore's attorney general said yesterday it will seek to begin contempt of court proceedings against the nephew of the prime minister over Facebook posts he made suggesting the city-state's court system was not independent.

The legal move is the latest twist in a family feud over the fate of late Singapore founding father Lee Kwan Yew's house that gripped the nation last month.

It relates to a Facebook post made by Li Shengwu, nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and a son of Lee's brother, Lee Hsien Yang, on July 15 that described the Singapore government as "litigious" and the courts as "pliant."

In a statement yesterday, the attorney general's chambers said it had previously instructed Li to remove the post and issue a letter of apology acknowledging his comments about the judiciary were baseless.

It said Li had failed to meet those requirements by the stipulated deadline of 0900 GMT, yesterday, which had been pushed back from July 28 at Li's request.

"As Mr Li has failed to purge the contempt and to apologise by the extended deadline, an application for leave to commence committal proceedings for contempt against him will today be filed in the High Court," the statement said.

Earlier yesterday, Li said on Facebook he had amended his original July 15 post to clarify any misunderstandings. However, he said he did not believe the post was in contempt of court.

Li's July 15 post was shared on a privacy setting that allows content to only be viewed by his Facebook friends. He said yesterday the intent of that post was to convey the "international media were restricted in their ability to report" on a recent feud between Prime Minister Lee and his siblings "due to the litigious nature" of the government.

"It is not my intent to attack the Singapore judiciary or to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice," he said.

Li did not respond to requests for comment on the attorney general's chambers' statement.

The public spat between the Lee siblings, children of Lee Kuan Yew, flared in June over the future of the family home and raised questions about governance in the city-state.

Lee Hsien Yang and sister Lee Wei Ling accused their elder brother of abusing his powers, prompting the prime minister to call an extraordinary special sitting of parliament in July to "clear the air" over an issue that some people say has tarnished Singapore's image. — Reuters