Islamabad, Jan 12 (IANS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Thursday said the party would not support a military coup as the country witnessed a stand-off between the political leadership and the army.

Imran Khan’s remark came a day after rumours swirled in the country of a military take-over following Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani dismissing defence secretary Lt. Gen. (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi.

The former cricketer said in Lahore that any unconstitutional way would not be tolerated.

Imran held the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) equally responsible for the current situation, Geo News reported.

Tension gripped the country after Gilani sacked Lodhi and told a Chinese daily that army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and chief of the country’s spy agency ISI Lt.Gen. Shuja Pasha acted illegally by making unilateral submissions to a Supreme Court inquiry on the memogate.

A Pakistani judicial commission is probing a memo delivered to former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen by Pakistani-American Mansoor Ijaz seeking to prevent a military coup which President Asif Ali Zardari feared after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by US commandos in May 2011.

In a strong reaction to Gilani’s statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media arm, said: “There can be no allegation more serious than what the prime minister has levelled against (Kayani and Pasha) and has unfortunately charged the officers (with) violation of the constitution.”

“This has very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country,” it warned.