Pakistan's powerful army and intelligence chiefs have broken with the government to demand an inquiry into a scandal that threatens to implicate the president, who is abroad following an illness.
They acted after the political opposition asked the Supreme Court to find out who was behind a memo that sought US help to prevent a feared coup and curb the power of the military after Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
In responses submitted to the court late Thursday, the attorney general said the petition should be dropped, but army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and intelligence chief Lieutenant General Shuja Ahmed Pasha did not.
The scandal relates to a memo that sought US intervention to prevent a feared military coup in exchange for overhauling Pakistan's security leadership after US troops killed bin Laden near the Pakistani capital on May 2.
The existence of the document came to light when American-Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz wrote in the Financial Times that President Asif Ali Zardari feared the military might overthrow his government.
Kayani said the memo impacted "national security".
"Therefore, there may be a need to fully examine the facts and circumstances leading to the conception and issuance of the memo," said the army chief in a copy of his reply obtained by AFP.