Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman hit out Friday at fresh reports in western newspapers that the embattled leader was about to quit to avoid impeachment.

Several newspapers quoted aides, politicians and diplomats as saying that Musharraf was about to step down following the coalition government's announcement last week that it would try to unseat him.

"I don't know where they get such baseless information," retired Major General Rashid Qureshi, Musharraf's chief spokesman, told AFP.

"It becomes very unimportant for me to comment on these reports. I have been hearing all this for the past many months."

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, both based in the United States, and the London-based Financial Times all said Musharraf would resign nearly nine years after he grabbed power in a military coup.

Musharraf issued a plea on Thursday, Pakistan's Independence Day, for reconciliation but it was snubbed by the coalition, led by the parties of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.