Pakistan's Supreme Court summoned Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to appear February 13 to be charged with contempt of court, his lawyer said Thursday.

The moves raises the stakes in a long-running battle over the court's demand that the prime minister investigate President Asif Ali Zardari, among others, for suspected corruption. Gilani has refused.

If he is found guilty of contempt, Gilani could be forced from office, but his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said Thursday that Gilani would keep his position unless electoral officials disqualified him.