Ijaz won't visit Pakistan due to security: Counsel

Ijaz Mansoor, who threatened to bring down the Pakistani president, claimed the government has set a trap to prevent him from leaving, his lawyer said Monday.Mansoor Ijaz has instead offered to record his testimony and submit it to a Supreme Court commission investigating the scandal, said attorney Akram Sheikh.Ijaz, a U.S. businessman of Pakistani origin, was scheduled to travel to Islamabad to appear before the commission on Tuesday but has bickered with the government over who will guarantee his safety.Ijaz has accused the Pakistani government of orchestrating an unsigned memo that he delivered to the U.S. last year asking Washington to help stop a supposed military coup following the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Pakistani government has denied any involvement.Its unclear how the commission will respond to Ijazs refusal to travel to Pakistan. His testimony is seen as vital, and anything that interferes with the judges fully quizzing him could hinder their investigation into the scandal.The memo affair has rattled the civilian leadership at a time when it is beset by an array of crises, including a struggling economy, a violent Taliban insurgency and a separate tussle with the Supreme Court over old corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.The army was outraged by the memo and denied it ever intended to carry out a coup. It successfully pushed the Supreme Court to investigate against the wishes of the government, which said the matter was already being probed by the parliament.Ijaz has claimed the Supreme Court commission ordered the military to guarantee his security while in Pakistan, but the government has said the Interior Ministry was responsible. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned Ijaz could be prevented from leaving the country.It seems like a well-orchestrated trap to hold Mansoor Ijaz indefinitely in Pakistan, said Sheikh, his lawyer.The army assigned one officer to Ijazs security detail at the request of the government, said Attorney General Anwarul Haq.But this was clearly not enough to assuage the witness concerns.Ijaz has accused the former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, of crafting the memo with Zardaris support.Haqqani resigned in the wake of the scandal, but both he and the president have denied any connection to the letter.The Supreme Court has prevented the former envoy from leaving the country while it is investigating.Haqqanis lawyer, Zahid Bokhari, filed a petition with the commission asking it to turn down Ijazs request to record his statement.If he does not come to Pakistan, he has something to hide, instead of something to reveal, said Bokhari.Government supporters have accused Ijaz of acting at the behest of the countrys powerful army, something both have denied. They have also questioned Ijazs credibility.One of the reasons the memo scandal has generated so much controversy is rampant anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. The letter offered to replace Pakistans national security leadership with people favorable to the U.S. in return for help from Washington in stopping the supposed coup. --AP