Imran and Jemima Khan reunite to protest at Brown's No10 meeting with Musharraf

The Pakistan cricket star-turned-politician and the English socialite joined together outside Downing Street where Prime Minister Gordon Brown was holding talks with the under-fire president.

A large and vocal group of demonstrators shouted anti-Musharraf slogans while a much smaller band demonstrated their support for the president.

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Ms Khan said of her former husband, who she divorced in 2004: "It just happened that coincidentally he was here ... and I thought it would be a really good boost if he could come. It just shows how high emotions are running."

In a message to Mr Brown, she said: "I cannot understand how he can be hosting a dictator and talking about democracy without a great big smile on his face."

The President's motorcade arrived at the gates of No 10 shortly after 12.30pm, sparking even louder chants of "go, Musharraf, go".

The crowd also waved flags and placards, many of which featured the images of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and her son, Oxford student Bilawal, who took over the leadership of her Pakistan Peoples Party.

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Mr Khan, who was among leading figures arrested last year as President Musharraf announced a state of emergency, is the leader of the smaller Movement For Justice party.

His former wife still retains a strong interest in Pakistani politics and lived in the country while the couple, who have two children, were married.

She said: "If you meet one dictator, you meet them all. The hypocrisy is a joke.

"The elections are going to be rigged; there's no democracy in Pakistan."

Mr Musharraf said after the meeting with Mr Brown: "I informed the Prime Minister of our strong desire to go forward with elections and to ensure that the elections will be free, fair and transparent. That's what our resolve is and we will have the elections on February 18.

Mr Brown said: "A stable Pakistan is essential for security in the south Asian region.

"I urged President Musharraf to work with all political parties in Pakistan for a peaceful, democratic future for the country and I called on him to continue to promote reconciliation - as I know he wants to do - between moderate forces to unite against the growing threat of violent extremism."

Meanwhile, it emerged Pakistan's president held a rare and secret meeting with Israel's defence minister in a Paris hotel last week, and the Iranian nuclear program figured high on the agenda.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met by chance at the Hotel Raphael in Paris on Jan. 22, where they both were staying, the officials said. They then held a scheduled 20-minute meeting the following day, Israeli defence officials said.