Ijaz seeks time till January 25 to testify before judicial panel

Islamabad - Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz on Monday failed to make a scheduled appearance before a judicial commission investigating the memo scandal and sought time till January 25 to come to Pakistan to testify before the Supreme Court-appointed panel.

Shortly after the commission began its third sitting this morning, Mr. Ijaz’s lawyer Akram Sheikh said his client wanted more time to come to Pakistan to appear before the panel.

Mr. Sheikh said Mr. Ijaz had been receiving threats and wanted to get insurance done for the safety of himself and his family. He submitted an application seeking time till January 25 for Mr. Ijaz to appear before the three-judge commission.

The lawyer further said that Mr. Ijaz had made an appointment at the Pakistani Embassy at Berne in Switzerland on Monday to get a visa to travel to the country.

The members of the commission asked Mr. Sheikh to clarify once and for all whether Mr. Ijaz intended to come to Pakistan.

In a related development, the lawyer of Pakistan’s former envoy to the U.S. Husain Haqqani on Monday contended that Mr. Ijaz would not come to Pakistan and was setting all sorts of unnecessary conditions for his visit.

Mr. Haqqani was forced to resign after Mr. Ijaz made public a mysterious memo that had sought U.S. help to stave off a feared military coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May last year.

The envoy’s lawyer, Zahid Bokhari, told reporters that Mr. Ijaz was setting frivolous conditions for coming to Pakistan even though the commission had already ordered authorities to deploy army soldiers to protect him when he arrived. “We want him to be given all possible security so that he can come here to testify before the commission. We will welcome him but we will welcome him with reservations,” Mr. Bokhari said.