Indian terror threat Aust, NZ govts
Sydney: Australian and New Zealand sports organizations said Wednesday their athletes would continue to compete in India despite a purported threat by an al-Qaida-linked guerrilla group to target major upcoming sports events.
Officials said they would heed advice from their governments, international sports bodies and specialist security advisers over the level of threat associated with the forthcoming men’s field hockey World Cup, Indian Premier League cricket tournament and Commonwealth Games.
The Asia Times Online Web site published a message reportedly from guerrilla commander Ilyas Kashmiri, whose Kashmir-based 313 Brigade is an operational arm of al-Qaida. The message warns of potential attacks on the Hockey World Cup, the IPL cricket tournament and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi later this year.
“We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games. Nor should their people visit India — if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences,” the website quoted a translated message as saying.
The message was not verified.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and New Zealand’s John Key said Wednesday their governments were working closely with Indian authorities to monitor the level of risk.
“Indian authorities have pledged to implement strong security procedures for all upcoming sporting events in India,” Rudd said. “We, however, will be following this very, very closely.”
Key said his government could not instruct New Zealanders not to compete in India but would offer the latest security advice.
“The decision whether to travel or not ultimately rests with the sporting team. We wouldn’t stop a sporting team going but it’s important we are able to give them the best information possible so that they can assess that,” Key said.
The Australian and New Zealand field hockey organizations both said they would send teams to the men’s World Cup, to be held in New Delhi from Feb. 28 to March 13.
Australian cricket vice captain Michael Clarke said he and other Australian players heading for the Indian Premier League in March had confidence in the security advice they were receiving. Clarke said Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association were closely monitoring developments.
Indian terror threat Aust, NZ govts was first posted on February 17, 2010 at 12:49 pm.
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