Outgoing chief says Pakistan team not suspects by AFP

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Player:	RA Woolmer
Event:	ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 23rd March 2007

 

Pakistan's outgoing cricket chief on Friday said the national team are not suspects in the murder of coach Bob Woolmer and suggested the players may themselves be under threat.

 

Naseem Ashraf, who offered his resignation as Pakistan Cricket Board chairman this week, said there were no restrictions on the players' movements, but that they had been moved to a "secure environment" in Montego Bay "because we were worried about their safety" following Woolmer's death.

 

"Our main worry and interest at this time is to focus attention on their safety and get them home to their families as soon as possible," he said.

 

A senior Jamaican police officer said Friday that investigators think it likely that Woolmer was strangled in his hotel room by someone he knew after his team's defeat at cricket's showpiece.

 

"No, there is no suspicion on the Pakistan team. This is ridiculous," Ashraf told AFP.

 

"The Pakistani team were at the hotel like everyone else they gave their statements, they were never interrogated.

 

"The whole team is under a lot of trauma and stress."

 

Pakistan's players gave statements to police and were fingerprinted before leaving for Montego Bay, where they were to stay for two days before returning home.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)