President Pervez Musharraf [Images] believes that if he steps down, the US will launch direct military attacks on Pakistan's restive tribal areas and take away disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan for interrogation about his proliferation activities, a daily reported on Monday.

The president is also of the view that the Gwadar port project in Balochistan will be affected if he leaves the scene and consequently, Pakistan's "time-tested relations with China could suffer a setback", official sources told the Dawn newspaper.

Musharraf also believes that in his absence, no leader or party will be "able to maintain cordial relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement," they said.

In view of the "likely negative fallout", the sources said, the president had no intention to quit the post to which he was elected for a five-year term last year.

They said the president's decision to stay in office was more due to "national interests" than his own.

The media report further said it was Musharraf who was keeping the US away from Khan, who has been under house arrest for the past four years after admitting to proliferating nuclear technology.

Pakistan has so far not granted the International Atomic Energy Agency and the US authorities access to the nuke scientist.

The sources said the US had been seeking access to Khan to interrogate him, but it was the president who resisted all pressures and kept the scientist in safe custody at his home.

It was also because of Musharraf's "strong personal links with US President George Bush [Images]," the sources claimed, that the US was not attacking Pakistan's tribal areas, which Washington has described as a "safe haven" for Taliban and Al Qaeda [Images] elements.