LAHORE, Pakistan. Nov 10: The family of deposed prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked Pakistan's military government to unseal Its business offices to help them clear bank loans, members of the family said today, reports AFP.

The family is unable to pay back the loans because its offices in Lahore were sealed when the military seized power on October 12. they said.

The request has been made in a letter to military ruler General Pervez Musharraf by Hamza Shahbaz, son of the deposed premier’s brother Shahbaz Sharif, they said.

It comes ahead of a November 16 deadline for all defaulters in the country to pay back bank loans. Musharraf has warned those failing to comply will be dealt with sternly in new anti-corruption courts.

The Pakistani elite owe an estimated four billion dollars in defaulted bank loans.

"You should understand that it is virtually impossible for our family to pay back loans when our business centres are sealed, accounts frozen and we are under detention." the sources quoted Hamza as saying in the letter.

Sharif, his brother and several other members of the family were put under detention following the coup.

They are being probed for bank loan defaults and tax evasion. but no chatges have so far been brought against them.