Mr Musharraf (above) began his visit to Britain on Friday, after a European tour aimed at reassuring leaders about the transparency of the vote, which was delayed because of the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. -- PHOTO: AP

The February 18 polls were expected to be high on the agenda in the talks between the two leaders at Brown's Downing Street offices, alongside co-operation on countering Islamist extremism and Pakistan's nuclear capacity.

Mr Musharraf began his visit to Britain on Friday, after a European tour aimed at reassuring leaders about the transparency of the vote, which was delayed because of the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

But the British leg has been dogged by daily protests, and strong doubts at Mr Musharraf's assertion in a speech Friday that the elections would be 'free, fair, transparent and peaceful'.

Jemima Khan, the ex-wife of the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician Imran Khan, was set to be among the crowds of protesters in Whitehall, central London, Monday lunchtime.

A leader of the Free Pakistan Movement, she said in a statement this weekend: 'I will be protesting Gordon Brown's continued support for Pakistan's dictator.'

'I will be joined by politicians, lawyers, doctors, human rights activists, journalists and ordinary Pakistanis who want to know what happened to New Labour's 'ethical foreign policy'.'

She added: 'Our equivalents in Pakistan have been denied the same right to protest. Many hundreds remain in prison - some tortured. We can't read about it because the media in Pakistan remains restricted.'

In particular, she said free elections were unlikely because they would take place under the supervision of 'hand-picked substitute judges, a pet caretaker government and a bogus election commission'.

Unconfirmed newspaper reports this weekend said Imran Khan would also be demonstrating. He was set to hold a news conference in London on Monday afternoon.

The human rights activist Peter Tatchell meanwhile said it was 'shameful' that Mr Brown was meeting Mr Musharraf: 'He is siding with a dictator against the people of Pakistan.'

'Musharraf is a criminal. He should be arrested by the UK authorities and put on trial in The Hague.'

In a speech on Pakistan's role in south Asia to the Royal United Services Institute military think-tank in London on Friday, Mr Musharraf dismissed claims the elections would be rigged.

'I would ask anyone to give me how (the polls) can be rigged, and if anyone gives me any suggestion, I would be too glad to pass it onto the chief election commissioner for implementation,' he said.

But he warned Western governments of judging Pakistan by their own standards, while professing his backing for human rights, civil liberties and freedom of speech.

'The only thing we would like is that this freedom should be within bounds... and not lead to violence and destruction and anarchy,' he added. -- AFP