Commonwealth is reviewing re-entry of Pakistan into the fold amid indications that the grouping may adopt a sympathetic attitude towards the country for cooperating with the worldwide campaign against terrorism, secretary-general Don Mckinnon said on Monday.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHoGM) suspended Pakistan at its previous Durban meet following the October 1999 military coup there which ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Mckinnon said that the country remains suspended because it is yet to come back to a full democratic government. "However, we recognise fully the real problems that are facing Pakistan right now. Pakistan's entry into CHoGM is currently under review but almost for a different reason." "I have certainly indicated that there is a tremendous amount of sympathy for military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his own fight against terrorism and staying on side with world anti-terrorism movements," he said. The meeting of the Commonwealth ministerial action group, which was to have met on the eve of ChoGM and which may well have wished to amend their recommendation on Pakistan and Fiji, would have to be rescheduled before the next CHoGM which would be held early next year. Bureau Report