Ijaz says he's not sure about Zardari-Kayani phone call on Osama raid

Islamabad, Mar 4 (ANI): Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz has issued a clarification in which he claimed that he is not sure of the authenticity of telephonic conversation between President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief about Army Staff Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in the intervening night of May 1 and May 2.

He made the clarification after denials were issued on the phone call.

On Friday, Ijaz had claimed that he had submitted to the court, in a sealed envelope, a copy of a transcript of the purported conversation between Zardari and Kayani even as US Navy SEALs were raiding Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, The Express Tribune reports.

Ijaz now claims that envelop was presented to the court with a disclaimer to view it on its own merit. He added that he had refused to answer questions over this transcript during a cross-examination, and that remains his position even now.

"I asked Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to evaluate the document on its merit with both his esteemed colleagues before making a judgment about its value to the proceedings. When asked during cross examination in Friday's hearings whether President Zardari had advance knowledge of the May 2, 2011 operation, I declined to answer until the authenticity and truth of the document is determined. That remains my position," Ijaz added. (ANI)