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Canada wants Commonwealth deadline for Pakistan

OTTAWA
Sun Nov 11, 2007 2:06pm EST
A detained supporter of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto shouts slogans from a police van during a protest against emergency rule in Karachi November 11, 2007. REUTERS/Zahid Hussein

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada called on the Commonwealth on Friday to set a deadline for Pakistan to lift the state of emergency rule and hold democratic elections.

But the statement by Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier stopped short of saying what the 53-nation Commonwealth should do if Pakistan fails to act.

Canada is a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which has called an emergency meeting for November 12 to discuss the situation in Pakistan.

"We continue to call upon the Pakistan government to restore the rule of law," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters in Ottawa.

Harper, who issued a similar statement on Thursday, said Friday's developments in Pakistan made him even more concerned.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was briefly placed under house arrest to prevent her from leading a rally against President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer, writing Allan Dowd, editing by Rob Wilson)


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