Commonwealth to review Pakistan's suspension
LONDON (Reuters) - Commonwealth ministers will meet next month to review Pakistan's suspension from the 53-nation body, the organization said on Thursday.
The group suspended Pakistan last November after President Pervez Musharraf failed to meet a deadline to lift emergency rule and resign as army chief.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which deals with violations of the organization's rules on democracy, will meet in London on May 12 to review the suspension, the Commonwealth said in a statement.
It agreed in November to review progress in Pakistan after elections and a British source said then Pakistan could be readmitted if the conduct of the elections was satisfactory.
A Commonwealth spokesman said on Thursday a lot of the conditions set in November had been addressed, noting Pakistan now had a democratically elected government and Musharraf had stepped down as army chief.
"It's a question of CMAG ministers analyzing the situation on the ground and coming to a decision," he said.
The party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto won most seats in Pakistan's February 18 parliamentary election and formed a coalition with the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and two smaller parties.
Musharraf stepped down as army chief in November and lifted emergency rule in December.
The Commonwealth previously suspended Pakistan in 1999 when Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup, but re-admitted the country in 2004 in recognition that democratic progress had been made.
The Commonwealth is a grouping of mostly former British colonies with a population of 1.8 billion.
A suspended country cannot take part in Commonwealth meetings and Commonwealth aid and cooperation projects in the country are halted. But the organization has remained in contact with Pakistan.
CMAG, made up of foreign ministers from nine Commonwealth countries, will also consider political developments in Fiji, which was suspended in December 2006 following a military coup.
"The Commonwealth is closely monitoring progress towards elections, which would be required before the suspension can be lifted," the group said.
(Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by Andrew Roche)
