ABUJA, Dec 5: The Commonwealth will not lift a suspension of Pakistan at its summit in Nigeria despite some democratic progress by President Pervez Musharraf, delegates said on Friday.

Some Western members are keen to readmit Pakistan because of its cooperation in the US-led “war on terror”. “There will be no change on Pakistan at this meeting,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters at a reception.

She and others said the Commonwealth would not readmit Pakistan until President Musharraf stepped down as head of the armed forces and addressed other Commonwealth demands for democratic and judicial reform.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon on Thursday raised hopes of Pakistan returning soon when he said that ministers dealing with the issue felt it was “certainly moving in the right direction on all fronts”.

Yashwant Sinha, India’s foreign minister, said judicial reforms, which emerged as the key obstacle to readmission in a September review, had not been addressed.

“Since there has been no progress on the resolution of the legal framework order, matters remain where they were in September and therefore the decision remains what it was in September, namely the continued suspension of Pakistan from the Councils of Commonwealth,” he told reporters.—Reuters