Pakistan PM tries to distance himself from army as crisis drags on

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's prime minister, weakened by weeks of opposition protests calling for him to resign, distanced himself from an army move to intervene in the crisis on Friday, saying he was not turning to the military for help to defuse the stand-off.

But in an embarrassing twist for the prime minister, the army swiftly denied this, saying it had been specifically instructed by the government to step in.