Musharraf warned: hold elections and quit as army chief

Envoys to spell out ultimatum in talks today in Pakistan Declan Walsh in Islamabad and Julian Borger Monday November 5, 2007 The Guardian Pakistani policemen arrest human rights activists. Photograph: FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty The US and Britain are today expected to demand that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, honour pledges to hold elections in the next two months and step down as the army chief, or face a cut in western support. The diplomatic showdown will come in the form of a meeting in Islamabad between the Pakistani leader and a group of ambassadors, two days after he declared emergency rule - and three days after giving assurances to the prime minister, Gordon Brown, and the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, that he would stick to an election deadline in mid-January, and step down as head of the country's army. Keep reading . . .