Click to play videoIslamabad: Pakistan is on the brink of a possible suspension from the Commonwealth over the emergency that was recently imposed there.
If suspended, this will be the second time that the country will be out of the Commonwealth league.
Even as the Foreign Ministers meet in London to take a final decision General Musharraf is pushing ahead.
He has banned Benazir Bhutto’s long march from Lahore to Islamabad that is due to take place Tuesday.
Incidentally, if suspended, this would be also be Pakistan’s second time under Musharraf. The first time the country was suspended in 1999 for five years after Musharraf seized power.
Back in Islamabad, the PML and Jamaat e Islami have blasted Musharraf's plans to hold elections during emergency. They said they were mulling a boycott.
Benazir Bhutto was less strident. She said that it would be difficult to campaign during emergency. There’s speculation that her long march due to take place on Tuesday will likely be disrupted by police.
She says, "The announcement that the elections have been scheduled to take place before January 9is a way of refuting the situation."
In the meanwhile, The Pakistan foreign ministry has been assuring the world that Pakistan's nuclear assets are secure and Musharraf has planned to move the Supreme Court for a formal endorsement of the emergency.
The newly constituted court is also expected to begin hearings into Musharraf's re-election.
Meanwhile, Swat Valley may have reached boiling point.
The army moved in on positions held by militant fighters of Maulana Fazlullah. While helicopter gunships pounded parts of Matta under militant control, the operation is still underway.
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