WASHINGTON - THE Commonwealth could review Pakistan's suspension after the country's parliamentary elections next month, the 53-nation group's secretary general, Don McKinnon, said here on Monday.

An evaluation on the return of democratic government and the rule of law in Pakistan will be made by a Commonwealth ministerial team invited to the country after the Feb 18 elections, he said.

'The fact that they are inviting us to come back after the elections is a very strong point,' Don McKinnon said in an interview in Washington.

Islamabad had called the suspension 'unreasonable and unjustified' and threatened to pull out from the organisation, as Zimbabwe has done.

'I am satisfied they want to continue their relationship with the Commonwealth,' Mr McKinnon said.

During their trip to Pakistan, representatives of the Malaysia-led Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which decide on membership suspension issues, would 'want to see what has happened' since the suspension, 'and things like rebuilding the confidence of the judiciary, freedom of the press will be very much part of that.

'The ministers will come back clearly with their findings, that may necessitate bringing the whole ministerial action group back together' to discuss the issue, he said.

Mr McKinnon, on annual visit to meet US officials to discuss issues such as reforms in Pakistan, said the Commonwealth 'do remain concerned' over the fate of the upcoming elections and the need for them to be free and fair.

On demands by Pakistan opposition leaders for the reinstatement of the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad, who is under house arrest, Mr McKinnon said 'there must be a lot of commitments attached to rebuilding the independence of the judicary.

'One of my greatest criticisms on President Musharraf is you cannot just fire the judiciary. If you've got judges who are inadequate you should go through an impeachment procedure. An independent judiciary is a very strong tenet of the Commonwealth,' he said.

Kenya
On another Commonwealth member Kenya, McKinnon said he was disturbed by the continuing post-election violence in the once stable African nation.

The overall toll since a Dec 27 election touched off a wave of deadly rioting has now surpassed 900 and undermines the latest mediation efforts led by ex-UN chief Kofi Annan to try to defuse a political deadlock following President Mwai Kibaki's disputed reelection.

Mr McKinnon said 'there are still clearly real problems' even after Annan's mediation efforts. 'No one who has been there so far has made any difference,' he said of foreign mediation bids.

On the possibility of Kenya being considered for suspension, he said most of the Commonwealth members did not seek 'punitive action' but wanted to help bring the country out of turmoil.

'You are only going to get them out of this problem by remaining engaged and if we do suspend them, engagement ceases for quite a while,' Mr McKinnon said.

But he added, 'the question of whether you can suspend a nation on the basis of an election that did not go well, that is yet to be seen.' The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group 'may still wish to address that issue and if they wanted to, could ask for a report on this.' -- AFP