Furious fans taunt returning Pakistan players by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 28th March 2007

 

Angry fans told Pakistani cricketers to "go to hell" as they returned home Wednesday, still reeling from the murder of coach Bob Woolmer and their humiliating World Cup exit.

 

Dashing allrounder Shahid Afridi, spinner Danish Kaneria, wicket keeper Kamran Akmal and paceman Mohammad Sami were heckled by a crowd of around 100 people after they touched down at Karachi international airport.

 

"Why have you come back?" one fan shouted as the players were protected by dozens of uniformed police, while another supporter bellowed "Go to hell" at Afridi, an AFP reporter said.

 

When Kaneria tried to leave the arrivals lounge the crowd shouted "Shame on you" and he went back inside, before asking for police protection to help him leave, witnesses said.

 

Speaking briefly to the media before being driven away, Afridi said that all the Pakistani players were feeling "disturbed" after the events of the past two weeks.

 

Pakistan were dumped out of the World Cup by minnows Ireland on March 18. A day later Woolmer's strangled body was found in his room on the 12th floor of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

 

Asked about the inquiry into the murder of Woolmer, Afridi said: "The police did ask us a few questions but these were normal inquiries. We have been asked by the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) not to speak much on the issue."

 

He added: "Just pray for us."

 

Akmal, who was going to take a connecting flight to Lahore, refused to talk specifically about Woolmer's murder but paid tribute to him.

 

"I don't want to say much on this issue but we all loved Bob. He was a nice coach and a nice person. He was like a father to all of us," he said.

 

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and around a dozen squad members arrived in the eastern city of Lahore later Wednesday but were driven out of the airport's cargo section to avoid waiting reporters and fans.

 

"We didn't want to hurt them, we just wanted to vent our frustration," said one fan after finding out that the players had eluded them.

 

Allrounder Yasir Arafat landed at Islamabad international airport early Wednesday but refused to comment before being driven away.

 

Pakistani police had earlier pledged to protect the players if necessary.

 

"We are deploying police at the airport. We will not allow people to go near the players," Lahore police chief Malik Iqbal told AFP. "The players will be provided with mobile police escorts as well."

 

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said: "Police will escort the players from the airport to their homes and will not allow any untoward incident."

 

Vice captain Younis Khan and batsman Mohammad Yousuf returned to Karachi late Monday.

 

The Pakistani players have come via Dubai and London, where they kept a low profile for two days following their ill-fated World Cup trip.

 

Team spokesman Pervez Mir said the players had no safety fears about returning home, although he admitted that Pakistani fans would be disappointed with their performance.

 

Speaking outside the team's hotel near London's Heathrow Airport Tuesday, Mir said the team were "never a suspect" in the murder of Woolmer.

 

However Jamaican Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields disputed Mir's "pretty inaccurate statement, because nobody at this stage can be ruled out of the inquiry."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)