Pakistan envoy to hold talks in India over tour

Brigadier Rafi A. Saeed, a member of the PCB Council, will meet Indian government and cricket board officials and the Pakistani High Commissioner during his six-day stay in the Indian capital to discuss security measures to be taken during the tour which begins on January 21.

The PCB decided to send a representative to India after security concerns were raised when a Hindu militant group dug up the pitch in the New Delhi stadium.

Supporters of Hindu leader Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena party have vowed to disrupt the first Pakistan tour in India for 12 years.

PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood said Pakistan will monitor the situation and no final decisions about the tour will be taken until the last minute.

Majid Khan, the PCB Chief Executive, on Friday said his board will carry on with the tour following the advice of the government and he believed the tour was in no danger.

Pakistan Information Minister Mushahid Hussain said on Saturday the team would only go ahead with the tour if New Delhi gave firm guarantees for its safety.

``Our first and foremost concern is the security and safety of our players,'' he told AFP.

The Pakistani team, which last played a Test on Indian soil in March 1987, is to arrive in New Delhi on January 21 for a two-Test series, the Asian Test championship opener against India and a triangular one-day series also featuring Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, a former army officer has filed a civil suit against the tour fearing it could lead to bloodshed between the two countries, sources said on Sunday.

In his petition, retired Major Lal Khan Bhatti on Saturday asked the city's senior civil judge to implicate Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, coach Javed Miandad and vice captain Moin Khan as parties to the suit.

``I am not against sporting relations with India but they should be off-shore and after Shiv Sena's threats I fear serious bloodshed if the tour goes on,'' the 55-year-old Bhatti told AFP.

Bhatti said if any mishap occurs during the tour the people of both the countries will be enraged.

``I think bookies are keen on getting this tour on so that they earn large sums of money on it,'' said Bhatti, who in 1988 unsuccessfully contested Pakistan's presidential election.