The Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed the hearing of Anwar Ibrahim's 'black eye' suit to tomorrow after it was informed of a 'fresh development'.

Justice Mohd Hishamuddin Yunus adjourned the hearing as requested by Anwar's lawyer Gobind Singh Deo to allow parties to the suit to sort out issues raised as a result of this.

It is unclear whether the developments indicated a potential settlement as counsel remained tightlipped when asked to elaborate.

"Certain developments took place this morning. We need time to exchange correspondence before we can make a conclusion to the issues raised," Gobind told the court.

His request was agreed to by counsel for the defendants - senior federal counsel Mary Lim who is acting for the government and lawyer Joseph Ting representing the former Inspector General of Police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor.

All counsel had met in chambers for about an hour before the request for the postponement was made.

Confirmation awaited

Met outside the court, Gobind confirmed that all parties to the suit had agreed not to reveal the details of the 'development'.

"I cannot divulge anything now. We need time to exchange letters to confirm certain matters. All I can tell you now is that we hope to reach a decision by tomorrow morning," he said.

However, Gobind (photo, far right) later told AFP that "we are discussing a settlement".

"The matter was scheduled for continued hearings this morning where Anwar was to be cross-examined by the lawyers for the government, the minister and Rahim," Singh said.

"Before proceeding with cross-examination, certain proposals were made and parties then made a time to decide on those proposals," he said.

"We informed the court of these developments and we asked for the afternoon to be vacated so as to enable us to exchange correspondence, which could go towards a possibility of resolving the matter."

Anwar is suing then Home Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Rahim and the government for injuries suffered while in police custody. Aside from the normal exemplary and special damages, he is seeking a public apology from all three defendants to him and his family over the incident.

Attempt to cover up

In his testimony yesterday, Anwar said that after his arrest at his Bukit Damansara home on Sept 20, 1998, he was taken to the Bukit Aman police headquarters where he was placed in a cell, blindfolded and handcuffed from behind. He was then assaulted.

He claimed that there was an attempt to cover up the incident and, that Rahim and Mahathir (photo) had misled the public into thinking that he was "safe and sound" when he was left unattended without medical assistance after being beaten.

Rahim had pleaded guilty to the offence on March 15, 2000 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and was jailed two months and fined RM2,000. He served the sentence and paid the fine after the Appeals Court upheld the imposition of both penalties on May 22, 2001.

The government, in its statement of defence, said that the injuries sustained by Anwar were caused solely by Rahim who had acted on his own accord.

At the outset of today's short proceeding, Ting submitted a letter of apology from Rahim - who is currently overseas - for his absence in court.

"He sent his apologies and stated that his absence is not meant to disrespect this court. We hope that the court will accept our apologies."

Yesterday, the court told Ting to convey to Rahim its dissatisfaction over his failure to attend the proceedings.

"While I cannot force your client to be present in court, I would advise him to make himself present out of respect, considering that he is one of the defendants named in the suit. Please relay to him the message,' said the judge.