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Government disallows C’wealth poll observers

* Pakistan to review relations with C’wealth after polls
* Islamabad doesn’t want arms race

By Sajjad Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rejected the Commonwealth’s request to issue visas to its observers for the January 8 elections, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday.

FO spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said Pakistan would review its relation with the 53-nation organisation after the elections. “The Commonwealth has said that it will review Pakistan’s suspension from the organisation after the polls. That is the time when we will actively consider our relationship with the Commonwealth,” he told reporters during a weekly press briefing.

He said Pakistan had approved 200 visas for election observers, including 60 from the International Republican Institute (IRI), 12 from the European Union (EU) and 55 from other countries.

“The IRI’s observers belong to various countries like the USA, Iraq, Cambodia, Liberia, Azerbaijan, Morocco and South Africa. Some of the observers have reached the country,” he said.

He said the observers included parliamentarians, journalists, and civil society members. “A non-government organisation Researchers is brining in civil society members from various countries including Switzerland and Germany,” he said.

He said the observers would follow the Election Commission’s code of conduct, adding that they would be issued passes to visit polling stations.

Sadiq said US conditions on aid to the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) would slow the war on terror as well as development in FATA. “The economic uplift of FATA is pivotal in fighting terrorism and we need international assistance in this regard. Delay in assistance would slow down the development and damage our efforts to defeat terrorism,” he said.

Indian missile tests: About recent Indian missile tests, he said Pakistan was not in favour of a new weapons system in the region as it would fuel an arms race and dilute efforts to improve social conditions of the people.

“However, Pakistan will not spare any effort to safeguard its national security,” he said, adding that foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet early next year for the composite dialogue’s fourth round.

He said the Pakistan-India Judges Committee on Prisoners would soon meet in India to exchange lists of each other’s prisoner. He said 450 Pakistanis were in Indian jails and 500 Indians were in Pakistani prisons.

He said Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai would meet President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro and businessmen during his two-day visit to Pakistan.

Karzai would be accompanied by Afghanistan ministers for finance, commerce and information and the national security adviser.

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