The story

Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Sunday that elections will go ahead in January despite a state of emergency that he said was needed to tackle extremists and ensure free and fair elections.

He said the vote will take place before January 9 but he would not say when the state of emergency would end.

Musharraf is under pressure at home and abroad -- particularly the U.S. and Britain -- to steer the nuclear-armed country back toward democracy by lifting the November 4 emergency order, holding elections, and quitting as army chief. Read full article »

CNN's Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report.

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