The public dispute - the first between the constitutional monarchy and the executive - poses a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as he struggles to assert his authority after enduring severe electoral losses earlier this month.

Mr Abdullah held private talks on Wednesday with Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin about their deadlock over who should be the chief minister of Terengganu.

Neither side issued any statements after the meeting, but independent news website Malaysiakini.com, quoting unidentified sources, said Mr Abdullah appeared to have backed down and agreed to accept the king's choice, Ahmad Said.

Mr Abdullah later met with his favoured candidate, Idris Jusoh, to discuss their plans, said Abdul Rahman Mokhtar, a state legislator who accompanied Mr Idris to Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital.

'The discussion is more positive,' he said after the talks.

Abdul Rahman and other legislators said they could not confirm the Malaysiakini report.

Decision due on Thursday
Mr Abdullah is expected to formally announce a decision after chairing a meeting of his ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation, on Thursday.

Mr Mizan is Terengganu's titular head but also serves as the country's current king - a mostly ceremonial post rotated among nine hereditary state sultans.

The monarch sparked a political firestorm by rejecting Idris as chief minister last weekend.

His palace appointed Mr Ahmad, another ruling party lawmaker, prompting officials to threaten to expel Mr Ahmad and move a no-confidence vote against him in the legislature.

The state sultans perform duties such as appointing chief ministers.

According to the law, the chief minister should be a legislator whom the palace believes commands majority support.

MR Abdullah and other government leaders insisted Mr Mizan's choice was unconstitutional because other state lawmakers supported Idris.

Terengganu is the only state without a clear leader after March 8 general elections, in which Mr Abdullah's ruling coalition lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

It also lost control of five of 13 states, though Terengganu was one state where it won comfortably. -- AP