It also gave General Pervez Musharraf, the president, a Thursday deadline to lift emergency rule and step down as army chief. A committee of foreign ministers "has suspended Pakistan from councils of the Commonwealth pending restoration of democracy and rule of law in the country," said Secretary-General Don McKinnon in comments monitored by the BosNewsLife Pakistan Bureau on Friday. November 23.

The decision came during the meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
 
"The state of emergency had not been lifted. The constitution and the independence of the judiciary not restored and fundamental rights and the rule of law remain curtailed," McKinnon said, reading a statement on behalf of the ministers.

NOT FIRST TIME

Pakistan was last kicked out of the organization in 1999 after Musharraf seized power in a coup. It took the country five years to be reinstated.
 
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters on Thursday that Musharraf has assured him that he will "do his utmost to lift," the state of emergency before January parliamentary elections and step down as army chief "as soon as possible."

The development was closely watched by Christian rights activists involved in protests against emergency rule. Thousands of people, including Christians, remain detained in the country. Church leaders have said not enough has been done to tackle Islamic extremism in the country, despite pledges by Musharraf and his government.