![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Friday, October 29, 1999 Published at 16:45 GMT 17:45 UK ![]() ![]() World: South Asia ![]() Pakistan 'disappoints' Commonwealth ![]() Mr Axworthy met deposed government officials ![]() The Commonwealth team visiting Pakistan has said it is saddened by the outcome of its trip.
Pakistan was temporarily suspended from the 54-member Commonwealth following the coup led by General Pervez Musharraf earlier this month.
General Musharraf said he could not give any assurance when democracy would return. He said his priorities were stabilising the economy, strengthening the Pakistani federation and introducing "certain electoral reforms".
Although it held high-level talks with General Musharraf and members of the ousted government, the team was unable to meet deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The general allowed them to talk to Mr Sharif by telephone, but they were told that he did not want to speak on the phone. BBC correspondent Owen Bennett-Jones said that presumably he wanted a face-to-face meeting.
Mr Axworthy said the team had been unable to obtain "direct verification of his [Sharif's] health and legal status". No contact
"I don't know where my father is being kept."
"They are not letting my mother go anywhere or to talk to anybody, and still the telephone lines are suspended." Mr Sharif hinted that he feared for his father's safety. "The Commonwealth has been denied to speak to my father in person. Is there any valid reason for that, why they have not been granted an audience in person with my father?" ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]()
![]()
![]() ![]() ![]()
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |