The 54-nation body of mostly former British colonies suspended Pakistan and Zimbabwe for violating its democratic guidelines. Both cases came up at the Common-wealth's meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja yesterday.

The Zimbabwe issue has split the Commonwealth, with black nations pushing for a softer line while white countries including Britain and Australia want to keep the suspension.

McKinnon, a tough-talking New Zealander, denied that Pakistan 's role in the US-led "war on terrorism" had helped its cause, saying the government of General Pervez Musharraf was "very busy building a democratic state".

Musharraf seized power in 1999 but won elections last year and has since formed a national assembly.

"What President Musharraf has done is not only (to) conclude those elections, he has brought a lot more women into those assemblies and brought a lot more minorities into those assemblies so it is a very good starting point," McKinnon told reporters.

"The feeling among ministers dealing with this issue is that they are certainly moving in the right direction on all fronts."

A group of Commonwealth ministers will draw up a report on Pakistan later on Thursday and present it to heads of government during the weekend summit.

Musharraf was criticised by opponents for rigging the 2002 parliamentary election by barring key opponents and formalising the military's role in government. But he has also cracked down on Islamic militants and become a key ally in the US-led "war on terrorism".

"Whilst we are fully aware that Pakistan 's geo-strategic position gives other countries a different view of how Pakistan should be treated, that is not an issue that Commonwealth ministers use as their benchmark. They use as their benchmark democratic credentials," McKinnon said.

He said Pakistan still had to address a few outstanding issues such as the judicial system before it could be readmitted, but Common-wealth sources said leaders could set out a timetable for its return at this summit.