MICHAEL JACKSON might be too sick to travel to London to testify in a suit claiming he owes an Arab sheik US$7 million, the pop star’s attorney said Tuesday.

Jackson is seeking to give his testimony by video link from the United States.

“It would be unwise for him to travel, given what he’s got now,” lawyer Robert Englehart said, declining to elaborate “for the obvious reasons.”

A lawyer for Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa said the medical evidence presented by Jackson’s legal team was unsatisfactory.

He gave no precise indication of what the illness might be, but told the court that Jackson’s condition could be treated with a bandage “if the diagnosis is positive,” Bankim Thanki said.

Jackson has often been seen wearing a surgical mask in public.

The judge in the current case, Nigel Sweeney, said he would decide the question of Jackson’s travel today to allow time for medical experts on both legal teams to talk.

Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, claims that Jackson reneged on a contract for an album, a candid autobiography and a stage play, after accepting millions from the sheik.

Jackson, 50, and the Bahraini royal first made contact when Jackson was fending off accusations of child molestation in California. (SD-Agencies)