The chief witness in a secret memo scandal that threatens to bring down the president will not travel to Pakistan to testify, claiming the government has set a trap to prevent him from leaving, his lawyer said Monday, January 23.

Mansoor Ijaz offered to record his testimony and submit it to a Supreme Court commission that is investigating the scandal, said lawyer Akram Sheikh. Ijaz, a U.S. businessman of Pakistani origin, was scheduled to travel to Pakistan to appear before the commission on Tuesday but had bickered with the government over who would guarantee his safety, AP reported.

Ijaz has accused the Pakistani government of orchestrating a memo, which 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.

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 job was the responsibility of the Interior Ministry. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned Ijaz could be prevented from leaving the country if requested by the parliamentary committee probing the scandal.

Ijaz has accused the former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, of crafting the memo with the support of President Asif Ali Zardari. Both men have denied any connection to the memo, although Haqqani resigned in the wake of the scandal. The Supreme Court has prevented the former envoy from leaving the country while it is investigating the scandal.