Returning Pakistan team not cleared in Woolmer probe by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 28th March 2007

 

Pakistan's cricketers began arriving home from the World Cup Wednesday as police probing the murder of their coach Bob Woolmer said the squad has not been ruled out of the inquiry.

 

Amid tight security to protect them from angry fans, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and some squad members were expected to touch down in the eastern city of Lahore, while other players were due to arrive at Karachi, in the south.

 

Allrounder Yasir Arafat landed at Islamabad international airport early Wednesday, an AFP photographer said. "I can't make any comment at the moment," Arafat told waiting media as he was driven away by a male relative.

 

But Jamaican Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields said comments made by Pakistan spokesman Pervez Mir that detectives had cleared team members of any involvement in Woolmer's death were "inaccurate."

 

Speaking before Pakistan's players flew home after a stopover in London on Tuesday, Mir told reporters that Jamaican police had confirmed the Pakistan team were "not suspects" in Woolmer's murder.

 

Shields dismissed Mir's claims in an interview with the BBC later Tuesday. "That's a pretty inaccurate statement, because nobody at this stage can be ruled out of the inquiry," Shields said.

 

Woolmer's strangled body was found in his room on the 12th floor of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on March 18.

 

The 58-year-old former England international was later declared to have been murdered in "evil and extraordinary" circumstances, probably by someone he knew, detectives said.

 

But police have so far failed to reveal any significant breakthroughs as they hunt for Woolmer's killer or killers, and on Tuesday made an international appeal for witnesses to come forward.

 

Detectives were trying to track down anyone who stayed or visited at the hotel in the days leading up to Woolmer's death, Shields said.

 

He urged any cricket fans or tourists who had stayed at or visited the hotel and since returned to their home countries to dial the international hotline (+1-876-927-5000) or contact their local police.

 

The new appeal comes amid speculation that the investigative trail into Woolmer's killing has gone cold, and the crime may take months or even years to resolve.

 

The team meanwhile prepared to run the gauntlet of dismayed fans in this cricket-obsessed nation of 160 million people who were outraged when minnows Ireland knocked out Pakistan the day before Woolmer's body was found.

 

"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 mobile police escorts as well."

 

Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said he had "given orders to the concerned police officials to ensure full security for all those players who will be arriving here."

 

"Police will escort the players from the airport to their homes and will not allow any untoward incident," he said.

 

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

 

Woolmer's murder has triggered frenzied conspiracy theories about match-fixing, with several former players speculating Woolmer had been killed to prevent him from speaking out.

 

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naseem Ashraf has, along with Woolmer's friends and family, repeatedly denied any link between the coach's death and a "gambling mafia".

 

Shields said he was not concerned by the pace of the investigation and said he would not seek to speed up processing of key forensic tests or analysis of security camera footage.

 

However he acknowledged on Tuesday that a possible match-fixing link "keeps coming to light".

 

Officers from the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, including chief investigator Jeff Rees, are in Jamaica to assist with the inquiry.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)