ISLAMABAD, June 12: An American Muslim here on Sunday sought the help of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to recover $5million which the National Film Development Corporation (Nafdec) allegedly owed him.

Speaking at a news conference at the camp office of Rawalpindi Press Club, Raymond Abdullah Palkner said he had signed an agreement with Nafdec in 1978 to show the Hollywood movie, “The Greatest” in Pakistan after Motion Pictures and Columbia Pictures allowed him to do so.

The movie was based on the career of the greatest boxing icon of the time, Mohammad Ali, in which Mr Ali himself appeared as the star. The film attracted a great number of cinegoers, Mr Palkner said.

According to the agreement, Nafdec had to provide him $5 million to show the movie at various theatres, record it on videos and telecast it for a period of five years and nine months, he said.

However, Nafdec provided him only $10,000 and nothing more despite earning more than $125 million by showing, telecasting and recording the movie on videos, he alleged.

While showing various advertisement that appeared in Pakistani newspapers to the newsmen, Mr Palkner said the movie was so popular in Pakistan in the 70s and 80s that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had to financially support its telecasting.

Mr Palkner said he had met some highups of the Pakistani culture ministry but he got no positive response. He said he had also contacted the International Court of Justice at the Hague, the Netherlands, but he was told to contact NAB.

He said the US embassy in Islamabad was not extending any help to him because he was a black Muslim.

“If you are black and a Muslim in America no one in the US embassies cares for you,” he said.