Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy today withdrew his RM10 million defamation suit against a journalist and the publisher of The Star.

High Court judge V. T. Singham struck out the suit without costs after Ramasamy, through his lawyer, A. Sivanesan, informed the court that he and the defendants had agreed to settle out of court, but that the terms of settlement were confidential and private.

Ramasamy named Ian McIntyre and Star Publications (M) Bhd as the defendants in the suit filed last Feb 13, relating to two articles, 'Distress in DAP continues', which was published on Dec 23, last year, and 'What Ramasamy said in the interview with The Star', which was published on Dec 27, the same year.