Imran supports England stance on Karachi

Pakistan's legendary allrounder, Imran Khan, has backed England's decision not to play a Test in Karachi during their tour of the country this winter.

Imran, who captained Pakistan to World Cup glory in 1992 before retiring to enter into politics, told AFP that the decision was justified, given Karachi's recent history of violence.

"Until and unless the law-and-order situation is restored such things will happen," said Imran. "When England's security team was in Karachi the city mayor was quoted in newspapers as saying that next month's local elections next month would cause bloodshed, and everyone took notice of it.

"You can't blame the Pakistan Cricket Board," Imran added, "because in such a situation if they press for a Test in Karachi the whole tour might get jeopardised." However cricket officials in Karachi vowed to protest the decision and hit out at the PCB for failing to argue the case for the country's largest city.

"England's refusal to play a Test in Karachi is disappointing and we would protest over it," Karachi City Cricket Association secretary Sirajul Islam Bukhari told AFP. "The PCB has failed to plead the case of Karachi.

"Karachi is a safe place and in a population of 15 million one or two incidents are common. Colombo in Sri Lanka staged international matches when there was unrest, so why not Karachi?"

Bukhari added that Karachi staged the 1996 World Cup successfully even though there was a curfew in some parts of the city. The three Tests proposed for the tour are now likely to take place in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan while Lahore will also stage two one-day internationals.

England have agreed to play one one-day international in Karachi, and will decide in ten days' time whether to play a second game as well. Two British security experts spent last week assessing security at various grounds in Pakistan, and two senior English cricket officials visited this week.

Karachi has been rocked by a series of deadly shootings as well as a suicide bombing at a mosque and the burning-down of a KFC restaurant earlier this year. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Australia and West Indies have refused to play in Pakistan because of security fears. Karachi has been rejected as a Test venue by South Africa and India since a bomb blast outside New Zealand's team hotel in May 2002, which killed 14 people including 11 French naval engineers.