(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-23 14:10

KAMPALA - Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth councils at the last minute before a ten day deadline expires on Thursday, a Commonwealth ministerial committee decided here late in the day.

Following two meetings on Thursday, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) headed by Malta Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, made the decision hours before the biennial Commonwealth summit kicks off on Friday.

"CMAG regretted that the Government of Pakistan had failed to implement the necessary measures set out in the CMAG Statement of November 12, 2007," a statement by the CMAG asserted.

"Accordingly, consistent with that decision, CMAG suspended Pakistan forthwith from the Councils of the Commonwealth," said a statement from the committee, pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in that country," it said.

This is the second time that Pakistan is suspended from the bloc mostly comprising former British colonies in less than a decade since its last suspension from 1999 to 2004.

"It was not an easy meeting. It is going to be a tough decision, " said the Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon in a briefing earlier in the day.

In the statement read by McKinnon, the CMAG renewed its call to Pakistan to implement the necessary measures listed in its Statement of November 12 as soon as possible.

The CMAG, including Britain, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Malta, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia and Tanzania, last Monday condemned the suspension of the constitution by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, saying the move was not in line with 'Commonwealth values.'

The group called for an "immediate repeal of the emergency provisions and full restoration of the constitution and of the independence of the judiciary."

In a letter written to the Commonwealth leaders of the CMAG, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro said that the " political situation in Pakistan was returning to normalcy."

Most of heads of government from the 53 member states of the Commonwealth are to discuss issues of situation in Pakistan and Zimbabwe, which is no longer a Commonwealth member after its withdrawal in 2003, as well as issues like climate change and poverty eradication during the three-day summit.