With another warning of a military coup, this time a call this week to British diplomats, Pakistan's Yousuf Reza Gilani is quickly becoming the "Prime Minister Who Cried Coup", when he should really be more worried about the country's Supreme Court. Pakistan's military officials have denied plans for a coup multiple times, and will probably do so again in the near future since the AP is reporting on Friday that  Gilani placed a "panicky" telephone call to the British government earlier this week warning of a military coup and how the country's military is working with the country's Supreme Court. With some help from unnamed British officials, the AP reports, "Gilani asked High Commissioner Adam Thomson for Britain to support his embattled government," but British Foreign Offiice officials and Gilani's office are denying that the call took place. Sure Gilani's ominous phone call and his international plea for help to one of the world's powers might not have happened, but the denials sure add an air of intrigue. And the denials could just be a precaution since the military has decided to punish threats to Pakistan's sovereignty, which seems to mean civilian government officials who warn of military coups--like we saw with former ambassador Husain Haqqani and Memo-Gate. Gilani's phone call certainly does sound like Gilani's previous coup warnings, and it does add some context to the firing of country's defense secretary Khalid Naeem Lodhi and his relationship with Pakistan's Supreme Court. But Gilani's call may just be a hollow warning of a coup that isn't going to happen. Since the AP reports that it isn't Pakistan's historically coup-happy military  Gilani should be worried about:

While most analysts say army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has little appetite for a coup, they say the generals may be happy to allow the Supreme Court to dismiss the government by 'constitutional means.' ... 

The court has also ordered the government to open corruption investigations into Zardari dating back years. The government has refused. Earlier this week, the court said it could dismiss Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani over the case. Judges are convening Monday for what could be a decisive session.

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Alexander Abad-Santos