The apology, prepared by lawyers of the plaintiffs, came with amendments Jeyaretnam had sought, and followed a surprise offer on Monday to drop all charges provided the long-time foe of the government read the statement.

"I, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, do hereby unreservedly withdraw these allegations and apologise... for the distress and embarrassment caused to them by the false and baseless allegations," the veteran politician told the High Court.

The 76-year-old also rejected comments from Davinder Singh, the lawyer representing Lee in his defamation suit, that the apology offer was a magnanimous gesture on the part of his client.

"Well, Mr Davinder Singh made it appear in his opening statements yesterday that as a gesture of magnanimity his clients have now decided to make this offer to me.

"Well, all I can say is Mr Davinder Singh must have been talking with his tongue in his cheek. The time to show any magnanimity has long passed," he said.

Singh made the offer on behalf of the other plaintiffs as well.

Instead, Jeyaretnam said Lee and his ministers made the offer because they were afraid of the evidence that he was going to produce in court which could tarnish their standing among the Singapore electorate.

"They've come to this realisation that if these proceedings still continue, they might suffer more damage... because I was going to bring into court for the first time that all these things are politically motivated," he said.

Jeyaretnam maintained the defamation suits against him were politically motivated and aimed at removing him from parliament. He said he had the support of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and other international rights bodies.

The legal action against him centred around remarks he was alleged to have made during a rally in the 1997 general election that implied wrongdoing on the part of Lee and other leaders of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

Jeyaretnam lost his seat in parliament last year after being declared bankrupt by the Court of Appeal in a separate lawsuit, a condition which automatically bars the holding of public office in the city-state.

Jeyaretnam, however, said he could now focus on a return to parliament. The next elections are due in 2007.

"Finally, as I've said, I'm relieved that... I can put this behind," the former secretary-general of the Workers' Party told reporters outside the court after the defamation suits were discharged.

"I can now turn my attention to my real objective and goal which I haven't abandoned and that is to get back into parliament," he said.

Jeyaretnam, who has paid more than S$1.6 million (US$874,316) stemming from the lawsuits filed against him by the PAP leaders, said he would not curtail his criticism of the government.

"How careful can you be? Well, I'm a man who speaks my mind," he said, when asked if from now on he would voice his political views more carefully.

Apart from Lee, the island's former prime minister, Lee's son and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Defence Minister Tony Tan, and Education Minister Teo Chee Hean had also filed defamation suits.

Another AFP report said a Hong Kong rights activist on Tuesday criticised the defamation suits filed against bankrupt politician J.B. Jeyaretnam by government leaders and urged the island-state to allow for greater freedom of speech.

"Its very nature is oppressive and unconscionable," said Albert Ho, who had been observing the court hearing of the defamation suits filed against Jeyaretnam on behalf of the Asian Human Rights Commission.

"So I would say it's time for the Singaporean government to have an overall review of the defamation law in Singapore. I think there should be legal reform to ensure the freedom of expression is adequately protected," he said.

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