Islamabad, Jan 14 (IANS): Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did not seek Britain's help to prevent a military take-over in Pakistan, authorities said.

A spokesman of the Prime Minister House Friday denied a news report which claimed that Gilani had telephoned the British high commissioner for his help to avert a coup.

Coup rumours have swirled in the country ever since a secret memo to Washington came to light last year that said President Asif Ali Zardari had feared an army take-over after Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, near Islamabad, May 2 last year.

Zardari's abrupt departure to Dubai in December last year as well as the lingering stand-off between the political leadership and the powerful army have fuelled rumours of a coup.

A statement from the Prime Minister's House mentioned a news report by a foreign news agency that Gilani spoke to British High Commissioner Adam Thomson last week seeking the British help to pre-empt the coup, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.

The spokesman said: "The prime minister has not spoken to the British high commissioner in this regard and the story is totally unfounded."