Pakistan's Supreme Court has given Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf three more weeks to comply with its order to reopen corruption cases against the country's president.

Mr. Ashraf appeared before the court Monday and pledged to resolve the situation, which resulted in his predecessor being disqualified from office.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters that Mr. Ashraf will go before the court again on September 18.

The court wants the prime minister to write to Swiss authorities asking them to reopen a probe into graft allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari, who has denied any wrongdoing.

The judges had asked Mr. Ashraf to appear Monday to show why contempt proceedings should not be brought against him for failing to comply.

In June, the Supreme Court found former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani guilty of contempt for ignoring the same order.

Pakistan's parliament passed a law in July that would have protected Mr. Ashraf by exempting high-ranking officials from contempt proceedings, but the Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional.