Pak returns to Commonwealth

But the group of 53 mostly former British colonies said after a meeting of foreign ministers

and diplomats it would monitor further reforms and expected Musharraf to meet a pledge to stand down as Chief of the Army by the end of this year.

If the nuclear power fails to continue along the road to democracy or if Musharraf does not stand down as Army Chief the Commonwealth will consider fresh action, officials said.

Many analysts had predicted the Commonwealth would lift the suspension.

‘‘The fact that Pakistan has been accepted by other countries and institutions would have put the Commonwealth out on a limb if it had not made this decision,’’ said Gareth Price, South East Asia expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Pakistan had long argued it had met Commonwealth demands. ‘‘This is our moral victory. We deserve it,’’ said Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to London, Maleeha Lodhi, said Musharraf would stick to his undertaking to resign as Army head. ‘‘Let’s remember he has stood by every commitment he has made, that’s his track record,’’ she said. Musharraf was made Army Chief in 1998 and ousted the elected PM Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup a year later.

Diplomats said earlier an apparent softening of his pledge to give up his Army uniform and the deportation earlier this month of Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif had raised concerns. Critics accuse Musharraf of building up a personal power base by strengthening pro-military groups before quitting as Army Chief and point out that top Opposition leaders including former PMs Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have been in exile for several years. Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, said: ‘‘The decision is not surprising as western countries, taking General Musharraf’s promise to fight against terror on its face value, wanted to reward his government.’’ —(Reuters)