Arriving in Britain towards the end of a European tour, Mr Musharraf renewed a pledge that the elections would be free and fair but warned there had to be limits on civil liberties to prevent 'violence and anarchy'.

Protestors in London, some waving placards of the slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, demonstrated against him and further rallies are planned over the coming days.

'The election will be free, fair, transparent and peaceful. The system inherently is fair,' the former army general insisted at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in central London.

'Whatever bugs remained in the system... have been removed by me and my government. I challenge any man to find out... how they can be rigged. And if any one gives me any suggestion, I will be (only) too glad to pass it on to the chief election commissioner.'

He said details of the polling stations and the electoral rolls were publicly available on the Internet for scrutiny. 'I would like to ask any organisation, please, instead of just saying that 'they will be manipulated, they will be rigged', give me what you exactly mean. What more do you think I can do? What more do you think the election commission can do? Please tell us.'

Asked to guarantee the polls would be held on Feb 18, he replied: 'You give me a certificate, I'll sign it.'

Meeting with Brown
Mr Musharraf, who arrived in London after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is due to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday. Unconfirmed reports say he will travel to Paris over the weekend.

Protestors have targeted his visit. Demonstrators outside RUSI could be heard during his speech and human rights group Amnesty International has planned a lawyers-led protest outside Brown's Downing Street office on Saturday.

Amnesty warned that Pakistan was facing a 'human rights crisis' which "represents a serious threat to the political process".

Mr Musharraf said that while he had no problem facing criticism, Pakistan should not be judged on human rights as if it were a Western country, comparing mild demonstrations in London to violent ones in Pakistan.

'The only thing we would like is that this freedom should be within bounds... and not lead to violence and destruction and anarchy. We cannot allow violence and anarchy in the name of human rights. I strongly am a believer in human rights, civil liberties and freedom of speech.'

'Not a proxy player'
He said Islamabad was not a proxy player in the 'war on terror', insisting Pakistan was at the forefront of fighting extremism. Success was critical and instability would be felt in Europe too, he warned.

'We are doing this for ourselves... We are not doing anyone a favour,' he said.

He urged those involved to stick together 'instead of criticising and insinuating.'

Mr Musharraf dismissed the idea of accepting foreign forces into Pakistan to combat extremists, saying it would not be accepted by ordinary Pakistanis.

'Whatever assistance we need, we will ask for it,' he said.

'I don't know why there are people who think US forces have some kind of magic wand. They have their hands full in Afghanistan.'

Mr Musharraf also said it would be 'foolish' to have international security for Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Meanwhile he said Pakistan's relationship with India had 'never been as good as it is now', adding that he was against any military operations in Iran as the region was 'already destabilised enough'. -- AFP