New Delhi: Pakistan could soon be suspended from the 53-member Commonwealth group for the second time following the imposition of Emergency in the country.
A Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will hold an emergency session in London on Monday to consider suspension.
Emergency was declared in Pakistan just about three weeks before Commonwealth Foreign Ministers met in Uganda.
The talks were dominated by the issue of Pakistan's membership, in 1999, after Gen Musharraf overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.
According to sources, Tanzania could insist on the summit to suspend Pakistan for the second time in less than a decade over its commitment to democracy.
Pakistan was suspended in 1999 after Gen Musharraf overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.
African states, which have been warned against staging military coups, feel strongly that they were duped by Britain into allowing Pakistan back into the commonwealth in 2004 with a promise from Gen Musharraf that he would shed his uniform.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an NGO, has also been campaigning for the suspension of Pakistan. In a statement, it said things have gone "very wrong in Pakistan" and its journey towards democracy was further derailed when Musharraf declared Emergency , sacked members of the Supreme Court and suppressed all dissent across the country.
(With PTI inputs)
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