LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has rejected accusations he is a Western "poodle", saying his fight against Islamic militants is for his country's benefit, not for the United States or Britain.

"I am nobody's poodle," he said in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper on Friday.

"I have enough strength of my own to lead.

"When you talk about fighting terrorism or extremism, I am not doing that for the U.S. or Britain, I am doing it for Pakistan."