Former PAS vice-president Husam Musa today expressed his regret to International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamad in court over a publication which appeared in Harakah on March 24, 2013.

The former Kelantan exco member said he had never made such allegation as reported in the PAS mouthpiece.

"As a result of my name being implicated in the allegation on the plaintiff (Mustapa), I express regret with the publication which had wrongly quoted what I have said, and resulted with problems to myself and the plaintiff," Husam read from a statement in the open court.

Mustapa, who is also Kelantan Umno liaison chief, then agreed to withdraw his defamation suit against Husam.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Nor Bee Ariffin struck out the suit with no order for costs.

Initially Husam pointed to his disagreement with the word " amat " (extremely) on expressing his regret, to which Mustapa agreed and withdrew.

Mustapa was represented by lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Husam was represented by Ahmad Termizi and Mohd Fitri Aris.

Previously, it was reported that former PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali and Harakah had apologised to Mustapa over the same matter.

Mustapa filed the defamation suit where he named Husam, Mustafa, former chief editor and editor of harakahdaily.net Zulkifli Sulong and Azmi Yusof, as defendants.

The Jeli MP alleged that Husam had slandered him during a political speech at the Machang Expo site in Kelantan on March 23, 2013.

The alleged slander was in regard to Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) shares.

The minister claimed statement meant that he was a corrupt leader and politician, had no credibility and abused his power for his and the interests of Umno members.