Ijaz said he would not be able to appear before the panel "until sometime after the middle of January" as he was currently on holiday with his family and would return home by January 9.
Controversial Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz has set several conditions for appearing before the judicial panel probing the memo scandal, including a "guarantee of safe passage" and the provision of security during his stay in Islamabad.
In an e-mail sent to the commission appointed by the Supreme Court, Ijaz said he would not be able to appear before the panel "until sometime after the middle of January" as he was currently on holiday with his family and would return home by January 9.
The judicial commission recently sent summons to several persons, including Ijaz, to appear before it at the next hearing to be held on January 9.
Ijaz said he was ready to waive his rights to privacy, surrender his BlackBerry sets and give his two PIN numbers for collection of data and to ease the commission’s work.
However, he set several conditions for appearing before the commission, saying in his email that "proper provisions" should be made for his security in Islamabad and that he should be given "guarantee of safe passage while going into and out of Pakistan".
"My family needs to know that the government is taking responsibility for my security while I am in country," he said.
Ijaz said he did not "intend to stay for more than one or two days" in Pakistan and that the commission should complete questioning him "within the shortest possible timeframe to reduce the risks and logistics issues" associated with his appearance.
Ijaz contended that he needed security as Interior Minister Rehman Malik had "made multiple public statements about asking the US government and Interpol to interfere with my freedoms".
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