Pakistan ? President Gen. Pervez Musharraf faces a stern warning from a top American diplomat on Saturday: end emergency rule or wreck landmark elections and risk undermining vital U.S. support.

Musharraf made concessions ahead of Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte’s arrival Friday, allowing independent TV news back on the air and freeing opposition leaders and a respected U.N. rights expert.

But he also pushed ahead with plans for parliamentary elections in January, swearing in a caretaker government and defending his record since seizing power in a 1999 coup.

“I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I have actually introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan – whether anyone believes it or not,” a solemn-looking Musharraf said after a low-key ceremony at the presidential palace.

Negroponte touched down hours later and spoke by phone with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the highest-level U.S. contact with the former prime minister since Musharraf imposed a state of emergency Nov. 3.