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Pak to remain suspended from C'wealth meetings

Pakistan will remain suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth and even its representative cannot be invited to the group's March meeting in Australia.

"Pakistan will remain suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth and it will be quite inappropriate and, in fact, quite injudicious to invite a representative of Islamabad to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Coolum, Australia," Commonwealth Secretary General Don Mckinnon told newsmen in London.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), charged with keeping an eye on democracy and human rights in its 54 member countries, at a meeting on Wednesday decided to recommend to heads of government that Pakistan's status in the Commonwealth should remain unchanged pending the restoration of a democratic government.

Pakistan was suspended from all Commonwealth meetings following a military coup led by President Gen Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.

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