KARACHI. Mar 2: Ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif today asked his lawyers to end their boycott of his trial and defend him against charges which could leave him facing the death penalty, reports AFP.

I need you as you have been contesting the case since its beginning. so it is very important (you come back).' advocate Khwaja Sultan quoted Sharif as telling lawyers who met him in a Karachi prison.

'We will have little faith in new lawyers and we do not want to have the services of state counsel either. You know the case better than anybody else." Sharif told the lawyers.

The prison meeting took place after an anti-terrorism court judge on Wednesday ordered Sharif to find a team of lawyers.

All his lawyers, including Sultan, withdrew from the case early this week protesting a decision by Judge Rehmat Hussain Jafri which could keep the

former prime minister's testimony private.

"There, is an immense moral pressure on us from our clients. We are sympathetic about it but we have not taken a final decision yet. Sultan told AFP after the meeting.

On Wednesday the judge adjourned the proceedings until Monday but told the accused to inform the court by Saturday whether defence lawyers had been found.

Sharif expressed his faith in the judge and court but asked for time to persuade the lawyers to come back or to find hew lawyers.

The former prime minister, his brother Shahbaz and five other officials have been charged with hijacking, abduction. attempted murder and terrorism in a case based on events during the night of the military coup on October 12.

All the accused have pleaded not guilty but face the death penalty if convicted.