Blow to Lankan cricketers likely to affect World Cup and Kiwis may call off tour

by Jalilur REHMAN

CRICKET: LAHORE, Pakistan, March 7, 2009 - Pakistani police said Friday they would wrap up an interim report within 24 hours into the deadly Sri Lankan cricket attack, after authorities said the perpetrators had been identified.

Pakistan has faced mounting international concern about poor security for the Sri Lankan team with questions raised about the nuclear-armed nation’s ability to combat Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.

“A little more time is required to complete the investigation... We hope to complete the investigation by evening or tomorrow morning,” the police chief of Punjab province, Khaled Farooq, told AFP.

Police released sketches of four suspects and have brought in around two dozen people for questioning over Tuesday’s assaults, but no leads have been announced despite press speculation that home-grown militants were responsible.

“We have identified the people who did the operation,” provincial governor Salman Taseer told reporters in Lahore late Thursday.

Tuesday’s attack was also a serious blow for cricket in Pakistan, where millions follow the game passionately. The International Cricket Council raised doubts about whether it could still co-host the sport’s 2011 World Cup.

New Zealand has indicated a tour of Pakistan set for November will likely be called off.

Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. All the attackers fled without trace.

No one has claimed responsibility for the assault, which left a total of 19 people injured, including seven Sri Lankan players, an assistant coach and a Pakistani umpire who underwent major surgery after a bullet pierced his lung.

Embarrassing footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, showed several suspects making a leisurely getaway from the scene of the attack, ambling down a deserted road without any police or security forces chasing them. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, home to two officials caught up in the ambush, demanded to know how they were able to stage the assault, killing eight and wounding seven players. “I am sufficiently concerned about what has been said by the Australians that we need an explanation, and we intend to get one,” he told a radio interviewer on Friday.

Simon Taufel, one of the umpires travelling in the convoy with the Sri Lankan team, said his bus had been left unprotected once the assault began.

Pakistani lawmakers have accused the government of a “serious security lapse”, highlighting reports that authorities were warned of a possible attack.

The top government official for Lahore conceded Thursday there were gaps in the security provisions made for the Sri Lankan team. AFP