Pakistan PM's appeal rejected

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's top court on Friday threw out a last-ditch appeal from embattled Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, ordering him to appear in court on Monday to be indicted for contempt.

If convicted, Gilani faces six months in jail and being disqualified from office in a case fanning political instability expected to force elections within months in the country troubled by al-Qaida and Taliban violence.

The Supreme Court is now insistent that Gilani appear for the framing of contempt charges over the government's two-year refusal to ask Swiss authorities to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.