(Updates with Canadian comments on emissions)

By Barry Moody

KAMPALA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Pakistan angrily rejected its suspension from the Commonwealth on Friday, but leaders of the group of mainly former British colonies said the sanction was justified and would stand until democracy was restored.

A special ministerial group set up to safeguard democratic standards harshly criticized President Pervez Musharraf for his three-week-old state of emergency and suspended Pakistan's membership late on Thursday.

Pakistan is not attending the Commonwealth summit in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told Reuters in Islamabad the decision "is unreasonable and unjustified. Pakistan will review its association and further co-operation with the organization."

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon told a news conference: "Every country that has been suspended will say we didn't understand the circumstances prevailing in the country at the time ... We think we did.

"This wasn't a desire to heap retribution on Pakistan, this was a determination to live up to our principles."

This view was echoed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said Pakistan was discussed by Commonwealth leaders when they began the three-day summit on Friday.

"Pakistan has obligations to meet. Pakistan has got to end the state of emergency ... Pakistan is suspended until the point at which free and fair elections take place and all of the conditions are met," he told reporters.

While the suspension has few immediate practical effects, analysts say it could further isolate Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic militancy, as well as discourage foreign investment and undermine him domestically, while he is trying to fend off major opposition challenges.

PROTESTERS BEATEN

As the summit discussed democratic values in Pakistan, Ugandan police beat demonstrators who tried to march into central Kampala and several protesters were carried away with head wounds, their clothes splashed with blood. One policeman was hurt when the protesters threw stones.

The police said they stopped the protesters when they tried to march out of a suburb where the demonstration was allowed.

The protesters said the Commonwealth had ignored human rights abuses by the government of President Yoweri Museveni, which Western diplomats say ruthlessly suppresses opposition.

The leaders of the 53-member Commonwealth moved to a retreat on Lake Victoria, away from officials and journalists, after a first session in Kampala opened by Queen Elizabeth.

Officials said the summit was working for an agreement on climate change, where there are differences between most of the members and Canada and Australia.

Small island nations are threatened by rising water levels and experts say Africa risks being left behind in efforts to combat warming, which could have a disastrous effect on crops on the continent because of drought.

Many Commonwealth leaders, led by Britain, want to issue an influential statement before a meeting in Bali next month of world environment ministers to discuss a new global deal on greenhouse gases, replacing the Kyoto protocol.

A British spokesman told reporters: "There is a broad consensus building within the discussions. We want to see the Canadians and the Australians do what they can to move towards that consensus."

But diplomats said Canada's Conservative government, which believes its commitments under Kyoto are unattainable, was insisting on the necessity that any statement refer to the need for contributions from big polluters like India and China.

A senior Canadian official said that the Commonwealth position should not be weaker than statements issued at this year's G8 and APEC summits referring to comprehensive global efforts to bring all major emitters on board.

"The prime minister (Stephen Harper) will not sign on to any final text that weakens the position of the international community after the strong statements that we had both at the G8 summit and the APEC summit. It would be a step backwards for the international community, for the world," he said.

Australia is a major carbon dioxide emitter and has not ratified Kyoto, but its environmental policy could change radically after Saturday's election, which the Labour opposition is tipped to win.

McKinnon said there were still differences on climate "but leaders were saying today we really have to get a concerted view on this with the Bali conference coming up." (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Adrian Croft, Justin Dralaze and Jeremy Clarke; Editing by Charles Dick and Rob Wilson)

AlertNet news is provided by