Terror hits lahore.

[A.V.]

Sri Lanka stunned, angered by Lahore shooting

COLOMBO: Cricket obsessed Sri Lanka reeled in shock and anger on Tuesday at the attack on its national team as it toured Pakistan in place of an

Indian squad that had backed out because of security worries.

President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the attack and ordered Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama to fly to Pakistan to oversee the evacuation of the Sri Lankan players -- seven of whom were wounded when gunmen fired on the team's bus in Lahore.

"I condemn this cowardly terrorist attack," Rajapakse said in a message sent from Nepal, where he is on an official visit.

The president stressed that the team had gone to Pakistan as "ambassadors of goodwill."

Seven Sri Lankan players, including skipper Mahela Jayawardene, were hurt, along with an assistant coach.

The Sri Lankan team was in Pakistan in place of the Indian team, which had pulled out of a scheduled tour following the November attacks in Mumbai, which India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

Sri Lankan officials declined to speculate on who may have been behind the attack, amid suggestions that its own rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may have been involved.

"We are uncertain as to who perpetrated this attack," Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told AFP.

"I have heard the LTTE mentioned on the airwaves. There is considerable speculation, but we will await the outcome of the investigation before we comment," he said.

"We are reassured that Pakistan authorities are conducting a probe to arrest the assailants and bring them to justice," he added.

The Sri Lankan military is on the verge of crushing the LTTE, which has been fighting a long-standing insurgency for an independent Tamil homeland in the northeast of the island.

In Sri Lanka, the sense of shock at the shootings was felt by cricket officials and fans alike.

Airline executive Lalith Fernando was dismayed that any group would target international sporting teams trying to help Pakistan improve its image.

"Pakistanis are cricket-crazy like us Sri Lankans. The terrorist attack only harms Pakistan more. It's a shame," Fernando said.

Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis said families of the players had been informed about the incident and moves were under way to fly the team home immediately.

"They (the players) are shaken, their families are worried too. But we are doing our best to get everybody home, perhaps tonight," Mendis said.

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge insisted that the safety of the players had been given all the necessary consideration before the tour began.

"The team was provided with heavy security and I was happy with the preparations the Pakistani officials had taken before we undertook the Test tour," Lokuge said.

He condemned what he described as "an isolated terrorist attack."

Graeme Labrooy, head of the Sri Lanka Cricketers' Association said the shooting was bound to deter other Test-playing nations from touring Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"Other countries will think twice before touring here or Pakistan, because of the terrorism problem," Labrooy said.

Up to 12 gunmen attacked the team's convoy near the Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, triggering a 25-minute gun-fight with security forces.

 

[A.V.]

Indian involvement can't be rejected: Pakistani official

Indian involvement in the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team cannot be ruled out, Lahore Commissioner Khushro Pervaiz was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Pervaiz also said that security officials had successfully protected the Sri Lankan team, Geo TV reported.

India was trying to weaken Pakistan, added Gen (retired) Hameed Gul, a former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

He told Geo News that India wanted to declare Pakistan a terrorist state and the firing on the Sri Lankan team was related to that conspiracy.

Six escorting security personnel were killed and six Sri Lankan cricketers as well as the assistant coach were injured when the team cavalcade was targeted by heavily armed gunmen close to the Gaddafi Stadium while they were going to play the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.

Reacting to the attack, India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi, "The terrorism infrastructure facilities available in Pakistan must be completely dismantled and the perpetrators (of the attacks) brought to justice, otherwise perpetration of these types of incidents will take place.

"I request the Pakistani authorities not to divert the attention of the international community, but to take courage in both hands and dismantle the terrorism infrastructure and take stiff measures against the perpetrators. Only then will such issues be adequately addressed."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Story...at+Indian+involvement+in+attack+on+Lanka+team

 

[A.V.]

Former Pakistan cricket greats condemned Tuesday's brazen attack on the Sri Lankan te

Former Pakistan cricket greats condemned Tuesday's brazen attack on the Sri Lankan team, fearing the country will lose the chance to host the 2011 World Cup.

Eight people were killed and seven Sri Lankan cricketers wounded when up to 12 gunmen attacked the squad's convoy near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, police said.

The assault happened as the team was heading for the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan.

"It is a major, major shock. Teams were already unwilling to come to Pakistan. This will end the game for the next couple of years, including the hosting rights of the World Cup," former captain Wasim Akram told AFP.

Pakistan is the co-host of the World Cup along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Wasim's pace partner Waqar Younis, who was commentating on the second Test, also feared for the future of cricket in Pakistan.

"It is a big tragedy. Something like this should never have happened. We talk about foreign teams being provided top security but after what happened today I don't see any team coming to Pakistan for a while," he said.

"Even the International Cricket Council (ICC) will now find it hard to allow the World Cup matches to be held in Pakistan. It is gone," Waqar added.

Another former captain, Javed Miandad, said Pakistan cricket had been badly hurt.

"It is all gone," he said.

"It is going to be very difficult for us to now convince teams that they can play the World Cup in Pakistan safely," said Miandad, who resigned recently as director general of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Former spinner Iqbal Qasim said the incidents had shaken the cricket-loving nation.

"What to say of cricket? These events have hit the most vibrant city in Pakistan. For the time being we feel everything has come to a dead end. There will be no cricket at home and we have to play our cricket at neutral venues."

New Zealand previously cut short a tour when a suicide bomb blast outside their team hotel in Karachi killed 19 people in May 2002.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Story...=Greats+fear+for+cricket's+future+in+Pakistan

 

[A.V.]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=c73581

Pakistan has hinted that Tuesday's ambush on the Sri Lankan cricket team may have been conducted by the same group that was part of last year's Mumbai attacks. Punjab Governor Salman Taseer told the media that the attack was by the same group while Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said that the similarities were "too many." The Express news channel also quoted unnamed officials who said that the attackers "had come through the Wagah border."

The Sri Lankan cricket team was ambushed on Tuesday morning around 9AM as it made its way to the Gaddafi Statium in Lahore by 12 terrorists who used hand grenades and machine guns. Most of the men, captured on CCTV, had backpacks and walkie talkies. Police officials said that around 30 rounds of ammunition was emptied into the Sri Lankan cricket team bus, which resulted in injuries to eight players, one of whom received a wound in the chest. Police later said that while the Sri Lankan players were out of danger, a Pakistani official accompanying the team was seriously injured.

In the ensuing shoot out between the attackers and the security forces, seven persons - including five policemen were killed. A reserve umpire, Ahsan Zia, was also seriously injured. The Sri Lankan cricket team was evacuated by helicopter from the Gaddafi stadium to the Services Hospital in Lahore.

A decision was taken soon after by the Pakistan Cricket Board to evacuate the Sri Lankans back to their home country. Ejaz Butt of the PCB said that the test had been cancelled and the Sri Lankans would leave Lahore by Tuesday afternoon. Rishad Mehmood, the Sports Editor of Daily Dawn, a local daily, said that the attack "spelt doom for Pakistani cricket." He said that in all certainty the tours of the New Zealand and Zimbabwe teams later this year would be called off.

Soon after the incident, police cordoned off Gaddafi Stadium as Information Minister, Sherry Rehman, said that an immediate probe had been ordered and that she would share details as they came.

What is interesting, say observers, is that the attackers came on motorcycles, which they abandoned and then left after stealing a car from a nearby market. None of the attackers was injured or caught. But Lahore Police chief Haji Habib ur Rehman said that results would come "within twenty four hours." Rehman said that the attackers were young men and very well trained.

The encounter lasted 30 minutes on one of Lahore's busiest boulevards. Raja Riaz, a local leader of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party said that this attack was the result of a "massive intelligence failure."

 

[A.V.]

here is the link to the video.



http://www.hindustantimes.com/AudioVideo/AudioVideoPage.aspx?ID=a689457d-6b9e-4e69-9652-cdb45ae2e237

 

[ZOOM]

Even Sri-Lankan Cricket Board has to share equal responsibility for such attack since both Pakistani and SL Cricket Boards are in a dire need of Financial Help and hence despite all the crisis both of this board decided to conduct this test tournament.

India's warning for not to play in Pakistan didn't received with any positive response and rather it was seen as a India's arm twisting of Sri Lanka and hence Sri Lankan player has paid the price for that neglicance.

Even ICC isn't that any less responsible for it, despite in a full knowledge of Talibani Crisis going on in Pakistan, it gave a green signal for such test series only to garner more revenue by getting more and more advertising rights. :sCh_coplight:

 

[ahmedsid]

Even Sri-Lankan Cricket Board has to share equal responsibility for such attack since both Pakistani and SL Cricket Boards are in a dire need of Financial Help and hence despite all the crisis both of this board decided to conduct this test tournament.

India's warning for not to play in Pakistan didn't received with any positive response and rather it was seen as a India's arm twisting of Sri Lanka and hence Sri Lankan player has paid the price for that neglicance.

Even ICC isn't that any less responsible for it, despite in a full knowledge of Talibani Crisis going on in Pakistan, it gave a green signal for such test series only to garner more revenue by getting more and more advertising rights. :sCh_coplight:

Bingo! You took the words out of my mouth! Pakistan is no longer a safe Sports venue, and the talibanisation has reached epic proportions, soon the writ of the GOP will only reach a few areas near the Capital, maybe just like Kabul and the rest in Taliban hands!

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Rest of SL cricket team evacuated by helicopter

lot of violence in cricket these days

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6482981.stm


Pakistan coach Woolmer was killed

It is now known that Bob Woolmer was strangled
Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was murdered in his hotel room on Sunday after the team's World Cup shock defeat to Ireland, Jamaican police say.

A post-mortem examination established that the former England player had died as a result of "manual strangulation", police commissioner Lucius Thomas said.

"In these circumstances, the matter of Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated as murder," he told a news conference.

Police say Mr Woolmer may have known his killer or killers.

The 58-year-old was found unconscious by staff at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Sunday morning.


Bob was a large man - it would have taken some significant force to subdue him
Mark Shields
Deputy police commissioner

World Cup to continue
Obituary: Bob Woolmer

Police said there were no signs of forced entry into his room and none of his possessions had been taken. Authorities are studying CCTV footage from the hotel.

The deputy commissioner of the Jamaican police, Mark Shields, said this might now be a hunt for more than one killer, and urged the perpetrators to hand themselves in.

"Bob was a large man. It would have taken some significant force to subdue him," he said, adding that police were ruling nothing out and had "lots of lines of inquiry".

"I have to say at this stage that it looks as if it may be somebody who's somehow linked to him, because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who that person was," Mr Shields told the BBC.

 

[Neo]

Media is already talking about India's Revenge!
God safe us from this madness...

 

[ahmedsid]

this is madness only, India is not Involved in any way, this is a ploy by the terrorists to make it look like India is involved! The people shouldnt fall for it!

 

[LETHALFORCE]

has the LTTE been blamed?

 

[ahmedsid]

I read in another forum some people telling its a Ploy by LTTE and RAW! How low can these guys get? They blame everything upon everyone but themselves!

 

[LETHALFORCE]

they are choosing targets where they will get the most media coverage, the biggest bang for the buck.

 

[Neo]

has the LTTE been blamed?

We're looking into all options.

 

[Neo]

this is madness only, India is not Involved in any way, this is a ploy by the terrorists to make it look like India is involved! The people shouldnt fall for it!

I hope for both our sakes that she's not.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Former Pakistan captains expect World Cup to be moved

http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKTRE5221JL20090303

Former Pakistan captains expect World Cup to be moved
Tue Mar 3, 2009 12:14pm GMT


Attack threatens sport in sub-continent
Top flight cricket in Pakistan may now stop
England board shocked by "despicable" attack
Australia players "shocked" by shootings

LAHORE (Reuters) - Pakistan's chances of co-hosting the 2011 World Cup have almost certainly disappeared after Tuesday's militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus, according to three of the country's former captains.

"I don't see the International Cricket Council (ICC) allowing World Cup matches to be held in Pakistan now. It is gone," former skipper Waqar Younis told Reuters shortly after six players were wounded and five policemen killed in the ambush.

Waqar, who is acting as a commentator for the test series, was metres away from the Sri Lankan coach when the attack took place as the vehicle approached the stadium.

"It was all so sudden. It is a big tragedy something like this should never have happened," he added.

"We talk about foreign teams coming to Pakistan... providing them top security. After what happened today, I don't see any team coming to Pakistan for a while."

Waqar's sentiments were echoed by another former captain, Javed Miandad, who believes the attack was a massive body blow to Pakistan cricket.

"It is going to be very difficult for us to now convince teams that they can play the World Cup in Pakistan safely," he said.

The ICC has said it would take 48 hours to decide whether to keep the next World Cup in Asia, where Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are scheduled to co-host the event.

Waqar pointed out that with the security situation in Sri Lanka also considered as volatile, he expected the ICC to take the World Cup away

A third former captain, Rashid Latif, said he was shocked by the events in Lahore.

"Cricketers have never been attacked in Pakistan despite what the situation has been in the country. Today is a black day for Pakistan cricket and Pakistan," he said.

(Reporting by Waheed Khan; Editing by John O'Brien

 

[ahmedsid]

Harkat repays an old debt to LTTE in Lahore?

Harkat repays an old debt to LTTE in Lahore?
B.Raman

Six players of the Sri Lankan cricket team, which had arrived on a visit to Pakistan, are reported to have been injured and four policemen killed when 10 or more persons wielding hand-held weapons, including hand-grenades, attacked a bus in which the team was going to the Gaddafi Stadium [Images] in Lahore [Images] on Tuesday morning.
The attack has been recorded on closed circuit TV and should enable the Pakistani authorities to identify the terrorists and the organisation to which they belong. The Sri Lankan government has advised the team to cancel the visit and return home.


While it is too early to assess as to who might have been responsible for the attack and why, one has to recall past instances of contacts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the Harkat u -Mujahideen (known as the Harkat ul Ansar before 1997), a member of the International Islamic Front of the Al Qaeda [Images], and the role played by the commercial ships of the LTTE [Images] in the 1990s in facilitating heroin smuggling from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.


In 1993, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted an LTTE ship in which Kittu, an LTTE leader, was travelling from Karachi to the Wanni region of northern Sri Lanka [Images]. When cornered by the Coast Guard, the LTTE cadres on board the ship set fire to it and it sank.


Kittu chose to go down with the ship in order to avoid falling into the hands of the Coast Guard. Some members of the crew jumped from the sinking ship and were arrested and interrogated. The subsequent investigation brought out that the ship was carrying a consignment of arms and ammunition which was loaded by the HuM cadres at Karachi, in the presence of some officers of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and the Pakistan navy.


Reports received in 1994-95 had indicated that the LTTE had helped the HuM in smuggling arms and ammunition in its ships to jihadi elements in southern Philippines and that in return for this the HuM and the ISI had gifted some anti-aircraft weapons, ammunition and surface-to-air missiles to the LTTE.


Since 9/11, this source for clandestine arms procurement and heroin smuggling for the LTTE has dried up due to the deployment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ships off Pakistan to prevent any shipping activity in support of the Al Qaeda.


The HuM continues to have an active presence in southern Philippines and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami in the Arakan area of Myanmar and in southern Thailand. One cannot rule out the possibility of the HuM --- and possibly even the HuJI --- maintaining fraternal ties with the LTTE despite its Hindu/Christian background and past anti-Muslim policies in the areas controlled by it.


These are opportunistic alliances to assist each other and the fact that the LTTE had followed an anti-Muslim policy should not come in their way. In past articles, I had mentioned that the ISI's arms gifts to the LTTE despite its anti-Muslim policies started after its assassination of Rajiv Gandhi [Images] in May 1991.

Against this background, a possible line of enquiry should be whether the HuM or any of its allies in the IIF is repaying a debt to the LTTE for its past assistance by attacking the Sri Lankan cricket team.




The writer is Additional Secretary (retired), Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, New Delhi [Images], and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/03raman-harkat-repays-an-old-debt-to-ltte-in-lahore.htm

 

[Vinod2070]

A sad day for cricket.

It seems that most of the media and Pakistanis are looking at this as Indian revenge. That may seem natural to them but is just a continuation of the long denial about riding a tiger they can't control.

 

[screwterrorists]

Boy aren't the media similar.

Not a second into Mumbai terror, ISI blamed. [just a statement, no opinion =p]
Not a second into SL players, RAW blamed.

This will only hurt Pakistans already shaky world image. Hope the mess can be sorted out.

 

[Singh]

Media is already talking about India's Revenge!
God safe us from this madness...

A few points which are as yet unclear on Indian role.

1. Such a high profile terrorist attack by "India", if discovered, would send our reputation nosediving, why then engineer an attack which has the potential to shatter us ?

2. India which has its hands full with the upcoming election and has leaderless intelligence agencies, how then would it she have the resources to engineer such an attack ?

3. Lahore is hailed as a symbol of Pakistan, Indian ability to send a group of gunmen to attack a foreign team guaranteed security by Pakistani govt in Lahore and vanish at will, speaks of our ability to strike in Pakistan at will, then why not take out Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim, Lakhvi, Zarrar, Hafeez Saeed, Hamid Gul, Sheikh Rasheed etc ?

4. It is also difficult to imagine, the same India which was the recipient of worldwide solidarity and praise post-Mumbai would embark on such a fool hardy endeavour.

5. This endeavour also has the potential to shatter the morale of our armed forces as the govt sees them as unable to reign in Pakistan. Nothing is worse for a nation trying to become a power and at the same time not having faith in its own armed forces.

6. India has been trying to become closer to Sri Lanka, to attack their team makes no sense ?

7. India has a reputation in Pakistan of trying its utmost to break it, why then would India engineer an incident which has the potential of uniting Pakistan ?

8. and if this attack divides Pakistan, then how does it help us ? as it is evident that by committing such an attack India has shown its distrust on its armed forces.

9. This also proves that Indian intel agencies are rogue agencies as Indian PM had explicity signed a cease and desist order, disallowing intel agencies from operating in Pakistan.

10. India being a capitalist country, interested in being a world super power, would do everything against its founding principles and indulge in an act so heinous which has the potential of jeopardizing our security and economy by way of promoting a united Pakistan bent upon on revenge or leading to a failed Pakistan overrun by extremists, why ?

11. If India wanted to avenge 26/11 then why do so so soon when these attacks are fresh in the minds of all ? and why not carry out attacks against key personnel involved in Mumbai attacks ? why engineer so many revenge attacks for eg. Karachi riots, Lahore blasts(last year), Quetta attacks, etc ?

some points on the top of my mind.

Edit-

12. This attack alongwith LTTE attacks, 26/11, Maoist coup, BDR mutiny has tarnished the image of the subcontinent, why would India hurt its own economy by way of tourism receipts, sports receipt ? Surely India is not so blinded with rage that it will hurt Pakistan at expense of its own economy and image ?