December 5, 2003	Friday	Shawwal 10, 1424

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ABUJA, Dec 4: The Commonwealth is looking to readmit Pakistan, but there was no immediate prospect of Zimbabwe’s return to the group, Secretary-General Don McKinnon said on Thursday.

Both cases will come up at the 54-nation Commonwealth’s meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday, Mr McKinnon said.

The Zimbabwe issue has split the Commonwealth, with black nations pushing for a softer line while white countries, including Britain and Australia, want to keep the suspension.

Mr McKinnon, a tough-talking New Zealander, denied that Pakistan’s role in the “war on terrorism” had helped its cause, saying the government of President Pervez Musharraf was “very busy building a democratic state.”

“What President Musharraf has done is not only (to) conclude those elections, he has brought a lot more women into those assemblies and brought a lot more minorities into those assemblies so it is a very good starting point,” Mr McKinnon told reporters.

“The feeling among ministers dealing with this issue is that they are certainly moving in the right direction on all fronts.”

A group of Commonwealth ministers will draw up a report on Pakistan and present it to heads of government during the weekend summit.

“Whilst we are fully aware that Pakistan’s geostrategic position gives other countries a different view of how Pakistan should be treated, that is not an issue that Commonwealth ministers use as their benchmark. They use as their benchmark democratic credentials,” the secretary-general said.

He said Pakistan still had to address a few outstanding issues before it could be readmitted.—Reuters