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| India-Pakistan |
| Australian umpires slam Pakistan security |
| 2009-03-05 |
| SYDNEY, March 5 (Reuters) - The two Australian umpires caught up in the attack by gunmen on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan have slammed the security arrangements for the tour. Steve Davis and Simon Taufel echoed complaints from English match referee Chris Broad in claiming they were abandoned by Pakistan security forces when a dozen gunmen opened fire on them on Tuesday. "In our hour of need we were left on our own," Taufel told reporters after arriving in Sydney on Thursday. "I'm angry that we were isolated. I'm angry that we didn't get the same level of security that the players got." Davis said the match officials had been promised high-level protection but security forces left them to fend for themselves after rushing to the aid of the players. "We were certainly left without any security in our van when we were being fired upon," Davis told a news conference at Melbourne airport. "The security obviously went with the Sri Lankan bus. When they managed to get away, we were left there and no one came back for us." |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #12 Match fixing bookies funding radical islamicists wouldn't surprise me. A few years ago when a top player would be lucky to make $50k a year, match fixing was a problem. These days, top players can make north of $1 million. So the old ways of fixing a match by bribing a player no longer work. Perhaps its bookies being innovative? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2009-03-05 19:06 |
| #11 Rantburg speculates... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-03-05 14:47 |
| #10 First report at the 'Burg of Bob Woolmer's mysterious death. We folloowed this nearly in real time, BTW. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-03-05 14:45 |
| #9 Phil, we've reported that here at the Burg in the past. I'd have to search the archives but I remember them. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-03-05 13:26 |
| #8 Can't feel too sorry for them. They should have known by now not to go to Pakistan. Don't they read Rantburg? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-03-05 13:10 |
| #7 Glad i dont play cricket with Pakistan look what happened to their old coach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Woolmer |
| Posted by: Lonzo Glesh1593 2009-03-05 10:45 |
| #6 Insh'allah. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-03-05 10:09 |
| #5 I think you have to parse Murali's comment as, So they divided into two and maybe they would have, well, (pause) known information and everything. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2009-03-05 07:53 |
| #4 By way of background, there has been conflict in the Pakistan cricket team between islamicist players and more secular players for a number of years. I've read a few news reports about it. That the Pakistan team left at a different time indicates at least one person on the team or close to it knew the attack was coming and delayed their buses departure. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2009-03-05 07:41 |
| #3 EMILY BOURKE: The umpires and the Sri Lankan team want to know why the Pakistani team changed its departure time that day. MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN: What happened was we left at 8.30. So Yunus Khan has said they are going at 8.35, five minutes later. We saw the two escorts. We got one escort and they had one escort. Normally all of the buses go, about four, five escorts go. So they divided into two and maybe they would have well known information and everything. EMILY BOURKE: That five-minute delay has also been playing on Simon Taufel's mind. SIMON TAUFEL: We were told they wouldn't target the players, that they wouldn't target the sub-continent team. There are a lot of questions. I mean the first two days both team buses left at the same time. The third day the Pakistan team bus leaves five minutes after the Sri Lankan one. Why did that happen? I don't know the answer to that question. Would they have attacked both buses at the same time? I don't know. You know, we can speculate as much as we like. I've just got to deal with the facts in front of me and the fact that, you know, I'm quite lucky to be here and see my kids and wife again and you know have an opportunity of still participating in the game of cricket. ELEANOR HALL: That's Australian umpire Simon Taufel ending that report by Emily Bourke. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-05 05:55 |
| #2 The grainy images, captured by four CCTV cameras minutes after the ambush, show the gunmen strolling calmly through the back streets of Liberty Market just before 9am. In one sequence, three of the men walk down a narrow, deserted street, carrying heavy bags and with weapons slung over their shoulders. They then mount a waiting motorcycle and speed away. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-05 05:54 |
| #1 ‘The gunfire ... it just kept going. We thought, when’s it going to stop? Who’s going to come and save us, how are we going to get out of here?’ Taufel said, adding he found it ‘amazing’ that none of the gunmen had been caught. ‘You tell me why supposedly 20 armed commandos were in our convoy and when the team bus got going again, we were left on our own? I don’t have any answers to these questions.’ 'cause the commandos were mighty Pakistanis? |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-05 05:47 |