Islamabad- United States journalist Mark Siegel has refused to visit Pakistan and recorded his statement before the court in Benazir Bhutto murder case.
“I can’t come to Pakistan due to security concerns,” he said, adding, however, he can record his statement via video link.
 The Rawalpindi’s anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge Pervez Ismail Joeya had directed Mark Siegel on Monday to appear before the court to record his statement today in Benazir Bhutto murder case.
In January 2013, Siegel refused to testify before the ATC citing security concerns.
In his statement recorded before FIA’s JIT in 2009, Siegel had accused Gen Musharraf of threatening Bhutto about her safety and security in Pakistan.
According to the statement, Siegel claimed that on September 25, 2007, in his presence at the office of Congressman Tom Lantos in Washington, Bhutto received a telephone call which she later described as a very ‘bad call’ from Musharraf.
The statement said the former military ruler had warned Bhutto that “her safety depends on the state of their (Musharraf and Benazir’s) relationship.”
Siegel alleged that Musharraf had also warned Bhutto that her security would only be guaranteed if she returned to Pakistan after the 2008 general elections.
According to Siegel, Bhutto sent him an email on October 26, 2007, in which she expressed her sense of insecurity. She also said if something happened to her, she would hold Musharraf responsible apart from individuals mentioned in her letter to Musharraf on October 16, 2007.
In the October 16 letter, Bhutto named Brigadier Ejaz Shah (a former ISI official and the then director general of Intelligence Bureau), retired Lt-Gen Hameed Gul and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the then incumbent deputy prime minister.