Pakistan, UK deny ‘Gilani’s call expressing coup fears’ report

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Islamabad, Jan 14: The governments of Pakistan and Britain have denied a report that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani telephoned the top UK diplomat this week to express fears about the Pakistan Army staging a coup.

A British official and an official in Islamabad had made this claim about the “panicky” phone call on Friday, raising fears within the Pakistani government that the army might carry out a coup or support possible moves by the Supreme Court to topple the civilian leadership.

Gilani allegedly sought High Commissioner Adam Thomson’s help to attain Britain’s support in dealing with the crisis. It, however, remains unclear if the British government took any action.

However, the prime minister’s office in Pakistan said that Gilani had “not spoken to the British High Commissioner in this regard,” The Dawn reports.

Meanwhile, the British Foreign Office has also reportedly said in a statement that there was “no phone call on this matter.”

While most analysts say army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has little appetite for a coup, many believe the generals may be happy to allow the Supreme Court to dismiss the government by “constitutional means.” (ANI)