19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LONDON, May 18: The Commonwealth's credibility will be damaged if it does not reinstate Pakistan this week in recognition of the country's democratic reforms, a senior Pakistani diplomat told Reuters.

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, also said she was confident the peace process with India would continue once the new Indian government takes office.

A key, nine-member Commonwealth meeting in London on May 21 and 22 could lift Pakistan's suspension, imposed in 1999 after President Pervez Musharraf seized power, and bring the world's second largest Islamic country back into the group of mostly British ex-colonies.

"The Commonwealth should be in step with the rest of the world, and all over the world people are recognizing the reality," Ms Lodhi said in an interview. The key benchmark, holding elections, had been met, she stressed.

The 53-member association, which cites a lack of democratic and judicial reform for the exclusion, accepts Pakistan has resolved several major issues obstructing readmission and has welcomed Musharraf's pledge to step down as Chief of Army staff.

The Commonwealth is one of the last remaining international bodies to hold out against Pakistan, now a key ally for the United States in the "war on terror". It has been named a major non-NATO ally, recently sealed a commercial pact with the European Union and has also joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF).

"The Commonwealth's own credibility is at stake, it is already deprived of its second largest member," she said. Asked if the recent deportation of Shahbaz Sharif, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's younger brother, and suggestions that Musharraf might be reluctant to shed his army uniform had harmed Pakistan's case, she said: "If other issues are raised we will see that as moving the goalposts... we think they should see the bigger perspective."

She emphasized, however, that Pakistan will continue on the road towards democracy by strengthening its institutions and undertaking social reform and added that President Musharraf would abide by the constitutional requirement that he step down as head of the army.

"We are clear about the direction and we will be relentless in pursuing it," she said. Yet internal Commonwealth rows may dash Pakistan's hopes. Some African members have resented lobbying by Australia and the UK to get Pakistan readmitted for what they view as strategic reasons while also pushing for a longer suspension for Zimbabwe. -Reuters