Islamabad  - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday denied reports that he is planning to go into exile after resigning.

"I will live here and die here ... I don't have a house anywhere outside Pakistan and I don't want to have one," he told selected members of the media in Islamabad.

Musharraf, a retired general who took over in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been under growing pressure to step down since February 18 when his political backers lost heavily in parliamentary elections.

Some media reports have suggested in recent days that the embattled leader has made up his mind to quit and opt for exile, preferably in Turkey or Britain.

But Musharraf said he had a good working relationship with the new coalition government.

"I have been elected as the president of Pakistan, constitutionally ... I am performing my functions according to the constitution and there is no interference (from my side in the affairs of the government)," he added.

The coalition government, which is led by the slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has announced plans to cut Musharraf's powers to turn him into a ceremonial president. But the beleaguered leader warned he would not sit idle to see his wings clipped.

"I am not ready to become a useless vegetable," he said.

However, he indicated that he would leave if impeached in the parliament. "The decision of the parliament is supreme and I will abide by it," he added.

Musharraf, a key US ally in the fight against Islamic extremists, began losing popularity in March last year when he removed independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, apparently for challenging government decisions.

Chaudhry was reinstated by the Supreme Court only to be again sacked under an emergency proclamation on November 3 as the court was preparing to rule on Musharraf's controversial re-election for the next presidential term.

Since then he has gradually become isolated. The Pakistan Muslim League - the party he formed to give a democratic façade to his dictatorship - has recently distanced itself from him, while some partners in the coalition government want to see him tried over the declaration of emergency rule.

Some reports said he is also losing the support of the military, his main source of power. The president denied this.

"The force I have commanded for 35 years turns against me; how is it possible?" he asked. (dpa)