Court to hear from Jackson in person

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-21  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

MICHAEL Jackson is to appear in person in a London court to respond to a Bahraini sheik's US$7 million lawsuit, the singer's lawyer said yesterday.

Jackson had asked to testify by a video link from the United States because of an unspecified illness. But his lawyer, Robert Englehart, told the court he "has been cleared by his medical advisers to travel in two days' time." The singer is due to give evidence at the High Court on Monday.

Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, second son of the king of Bahrain, says Jackson reneged on a contract for an album, a candid autobiography and a stage play after accepting millions in advances. Jackson claims the money was a gift.

Jackson, 50, and the Bahraini royal first made contact when the singer was fending off accusations of child molestation in California and Al Khalifa offered to help him. When Jackson was cleared of the charges in June 2005, Al Khalifa invited him to the small, oil-rich Gulf state to escape the media spotlight.

Al Khalifa, an amateur songwriter, says the pair even moved into the same palace to work on music together.

But Jackson dropped the project in 2006, leaving Bahrain and pulling out of the contract. Al Khalifa's lawyer says the sheik considered the move a betrayal.

The sheik took the witness stand yesterday, agreeing when Jackson's lawyer described him as a "devoted fan of Western pop music" and an extremely wealthy man.

"I would see myself as somebody who is very fortunate, yes," said Al Khalifa, 33.

He rejected Englehart's suggestion that Jackson was emotionally and financially fragile. Part of Jackson's defense is that the sheik took advantage of his vulnerability and lack of business acumen.