Will unveil the truth, not afraid of anyone, says Ijaz

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Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz has said that he is not afraid of anyone and would unveil the truth despite receiving threats over his expected testimony before a judicial commission probing the memo scandal.

The central character of the scandal, while specifying the 'threats' he was getting, said: "They are random. The email addresses and so forth. Several of them were very specific. One or two of them were more blunt and broad based."

"I am coming. I am going to tell the truth. I am going to make sure that the people of Pakistan, finally, are able to hold their government accountable for the actions that they take in their name," Ijaz said.

"For me, it just doesn't matter who's behind them. They are not going to stop me from coming. They can do what they want," he asserted.

"And I say very clearly to the government, to those in the government, to the interior minister who has made a lot of different statements and, sort of, veiled threats, and things of that nature against me, against members of my family...all this stuff is just hullabaloo."

Asked why he failed to keep his date with the apex court-appointed commission, Ijaz said: "To be very frank with you, I am not afraid of any of these guys. They can make all the threats that they want to and it won't deter me from coming over there. But, unfortunately for this process, I run businesses, I have partners, I have shareholders. But most importantly I've got my family to consider."

"... So, it was just a matter of getting certain logistics issues sorted out that had to be done," he added.

Ijaz has been summoned by the commission to Islamabad following petitions on the memo issue by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders and others.

He was issued a one-year multiple-entry visa by the Pakistan high commission Thursday evening. Ijaz may visit Pakistan next week for his testimony.

He was summoned by the commission Jan 16 but did not appear before it due to reservations over his security.