ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that he will not take the oath of the office of president until the Supreme Court gave its verdict on his eligibility.

“As the judiciary has fixed October 17 (as the next date of hearing), with the order not to declare the results officially, and if it (the case) continues, I will not take oath,” he said in a programme of the ARY Television.

Brief excerpts from the president’s interview, to be telecast on Wednesday at 9:10pm, were aired by the ARY on Tuesday.

In reply to a question, the president termed “negative” the PPP’s absence from voting in the presidential election.

He, however, said that PPP’s decision of not resigning from the assemblies was “positive”.

The president said there were no president’s or prime minister’s groups in the PML as all of them voted in his favour.

“Not at all,” the president said when asked about any possibility of handing over Dr A.Q. Khan to the International Atomic Energy Agency.—APP