Police hunt continues after deadly attack on Sri Lankan cricketers

Sally Sara, South Asia

Last Updated: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 09:25:00 +1100

Police in Pakistan are still hunting for the gunmen who opened fire on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team to a match in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

The Pakistani President Asif Ali Zaradari says the terrorist attack was cowardly and he's promising a full investigation.

Police are yet to capture any of the gunmen who ambushed the Sri Lankan cricket team in central Lahore.

Seven people including several police officers were killed.

An assistant coach and seven players were injured.

The terrorists opened fire with rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

The Sri Lankan cricket team has been evacuated on a chartered aircraft and the test series against Pakistan has been abandoned.

New Zealand cancels tour

New Zealand has cancelled its tour of Pakistan scheduled for later this year after the attack on the Sri Lankan team.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan says there is no way the trip could go ahead.

Mr Vaughan says New Zealand still wants the series to go ahead, but it will have to be played at a neutral venue, possibly in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

And the International Cricket Council say it's hard to see any international cricket being played in Pakistan for the forseeable future.

World leaders condemn

President Barack Obama of the United States and Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown have joined international condemnation of the Lahore attack.

Both men, speaking after a meeting Washington, expressed deep concern over the incident, while the US State Department called it a "vicious attack on innocent civilians."

Australian reaction

Australian captain Ricky Ponting says the entire cricket community has been affected by yesterday's terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Ponting's spoken to some of the Sri Lankan players and says he hopes they make a quick recovery from their injuries.

Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland says security is a key consideration on any tour.

"We're very aware and very concerned about security issues relating to our team and to others members of the cricket aus staff that travel overseas from time to time. We need to be very aware and take the best possible advice."

'Good relationship'

The Sri Lankan team's media manager in Colombo, Charith Senanayake, says the cricketers have had a good relationship with Pakistan.

"They were in Pakistan a few weeks ago," he said.

"We played three one-day [matches] - we came back, we had absolutely no problems over there.

"Over the past few years we have had a very solid relationship with Pakistan so we never expected this kind of reaction from Pakistan."

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