LONDON — Attorney Bankim Thanki confirmed to London’s High Court that Jackson and Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had settled their legal dispute over a planned music project that fell apart in 2006. Thanki said details of the agreement would not be disclosed.

In a joint statement e-mailed to reporters after the brief hearing, lawyers for Al Khalifa and Jackson confirmed that the dispute had been resolved. “They wish each other well in their own, respective endeavors,” the statement said.

Al Khalifa first befriended Jackson in the wake of his trial on child molestation charges in California. The sheik took the singer under his wing after he was acquitted in June 2005, moving him to Bahrain and showering him with money.

The sheik said the cash was an advance on a joint pop music venture that Jackson never fulfilled. Jackson denied the charge, saying the money was freely given. Al Khalifa was suing for $7 million, the amount he claims he gave Jackson as part of their project.

The singer had been due to testify Monday before the case was settled, but neither he nor the sheik showed up in court.

The skint superstar, 50, donned Islamic garb to pledge allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a pal’s mansion in Los Angeles. Jacko sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate — days before the singer is due to appear at London’s High Court where he is being sued by an Arab sheik.

A source told last night how Jacko, brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, decided to convert as he used a studio at the home of his chum to record a new album.

The star — whose hits include The Way You Make Me Feel — was spotted looking “a bit down” by a producer and a songwriter who had both embraced Islam.The source said: “They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.

“An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief.” Mikaeel is the name of one of Allah’s angels. “Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa — meaning “the chosen one”.

And He Gives Them A Break At $10 Million:


Neverland Ranch was going to be auctioned off at the end of this week after Jacko defaulted on payments because he’s got less money than an un-wed teenage mother. A new real estate firm purchased the mortgage and is in the process of working out a new payment plan with Michael… maybe he can trade Beatles songs for rent? Desperate to sell the property, he has offered it to the Beckham’s at a low price of $10million.

I hope they don’t do it. I bet they will find some creepy closet full of Macaulay Culkin penis pictures…or worse yet, Jacko penis pictures. Ew…