He also said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are “safe” while terming as “totally misplaced” the concerns expressed by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei on the issue.

The Pakistani leader, in an interview to German daily Der Spiegel, said that while he does not deny that al-Qaeda is carrying out terrorism in the tribal areas, “one thing is for sure; the fanatics can never take over Pakistan.”

Musharraf, who described US President George W Bush as a “friend” he will “miss very much” after his tenure ends, said he would never allow US forces to operate on Pakistan’s soil.

Asked about Democratic Presidential front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama vowing to take a tougher stance with regard to Pakistan, he said “all these politicians do not have access to intelligence information that could provide them with an accurate view of the situation.

Musharraf also expressed readiness to work with anyone who wins the next month’s general elections and said he would quit the day he felt unwanted by majority of the countrymen. Asked whether he would be willing to work with opposition leaders like former Premier Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari, he said that “national interests should reign supreme”.

Clue to Bhutto’s killers

He said he was “quite reasonably sure” about who killed Bhutto, “because we have tapped the telephones of militant extremists.” He maintained that the Pakistan People’s Party leader was warned about threats to her life “but she decided differently”.