The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has again urged Anwar Ibrahim, Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia and TV3 to explore the possibility of settlement in the defamation suit filed by the former opposition leader.

This comes after the parties failed to settle six months ago after mediation before Justice Noraini Abdul Rahman.

The matter came up for case management today before the same judge who wanted them to look into amicably resolving the matter.

Following this, Anwar's lawyer Shahid Adli Kamaruddin said the court has fixed May 19 for case management before a deputy registrar.

The former Permatang Pauh MP had filed the defamation suit on March 8 last year naming Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, its editor-in-chief, TV3, Media Prima Bhd group managing editor Shaharudin Latif and Buletin Utama news editor Ing Boon Seng as defendants.

In his statement of claim, Anwar, 68, referred to the article titled Ketua Pembangkang dikaitkan dengan pencerobohan? (Opposition leader linked to intrusion?) published on the front page of Utusan Malaysia and another report titled Tiga kumpulan jadi dalang (Three groups are the mastermind) on Page 9.

He also claimed a similar report was published in Buletin Utama.