Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani held a key meeting with top commanders on Thursday against the backdrop of an escalating row with the civilian government over the memo scandal.

Kayani met with top commanders at the General Headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, a military official told PTI.

The official declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak on the issue. The meeting was attended by both the principal staff officers or senior generals serving at the General Headquarters, and the Corps Commanders, who head formations across the country, other sources said.

The issues that figured at the meeting could not immediately be ascertained and there was no word from the military's media wing. The meeting was held hours before lawmakers gathered for an urgent session of the national assembly or lower house of Parliament convened by the government to discuss a warning from the Supreme Court that action could be taken against the President and prime minister for failing to reopen high-profile corruption case.

The meeting of the army commanders and the parliamentary session came a day after the confrontation between the military and the government came to a head.

The military on Wednesday warned that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's criticism of the army and intelligence chiefs could have "grievous consequences".

Shortly after the military issued a strongly worded statement rebuking the civilian government, Gilani fired Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, consider a confidant of the army chief.