Musharraf told the Straits Times that US or coalition troops would not be welcome unless invited for a particular reason, such as hunting al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. "Nobody will come here until we ask them to come. And we haven't asked them," he said. Asked if a unilateral intervention would be seen as an invasion, Musharraf replied "Certainly. If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty."
"But when you're talking about Osama bin Laden, any action against him will be free, if we know where he is, if we have good intelligence," he added. "The methodology will be discussed together and we'll attack the target together."
Pakistan's military this month rejected a New York Times report that Washington is considering granting the Pentagon and the CIA new authority to conduct covert operations in the tribal areas, where al Qaeda is showing new strength. Pakistan is struggling to put down violence in the tribal zone despite sending 90,000 troops to hunt militants, which some experts believe include bin Laden.
But Musharraf said the US army would not do a better job.
"The United States seems to think that what our army cannot do, they can do, this is a very wrong perception," Musharraf said. "I challenge anybody to come into our mountains. They would regret that day. It's not easy there." Musharraf also told the newspaper he would resign if a government that emerged from elections, now scheduled for next month, sought his impeachment. Musharraf also criticised US Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton's proposal to deploy a US, and possibly a British, team to safeguard Pakistan's nuclear assets.
Her statement, Musharraf said, was an "intrusion into our privacy, into our sensitivity ... She doesn't seem to understand how well-guarded these assets are."
International concern about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons has been increasing, and earlier this week, Mohamed Elbaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was quoted as saying he feared the nuclear arsenal could pass into the hands of extremists.
Musharraf is also under fire at home. "If impeachment were their intention and they don't want to go along in a harmonious manner, I would like to quit the scene," Musharraf said when asked what would happen if Benazir's party emerged a winner in the elections and mounted a bid to oust him with the support of Nawaz's party. "If that happens, let me assure you that I would be leaving office before they would do anything."