Two Pakistan players home from World Cup by AFP

---

Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

---

DateLine: 27th March 2007

 

Two key Pakistani players have arrived home while most of the rest of the team are due late Tuesday or overnight as the probe into the murder of coach Bob Woolmer continues, officials said.

 

Vice captain Younis Khan and star batsman Mohammad Yousuf arrived in the southern port city of Karachi late on Monday, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

 

"Younus and Yousuf have arrived while some other players including skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq are due late Tuesday or early Wednesday" the official said.

 

Khan was met by friends and family at Karachi airport while Yousuf took a connecting flight, thought to be for the eastern city of Lahore.

 

Khan refused to comment as he was driven away, witnesses said.

 

"I am crazy about cricket but alhtough I knew it was Khan, I did not take his autograph because the team have disappointed us," said Sheraz Ahmed, 16, who waited through the night at Karachi airport.

 

Inzamam and the team arrived in London on Sunday and have been staying at a hotel near the capital's Heathrow airport for a pre-arranged stopover en route home after their doomed trip to the World Cup in the Caribbean.

 

Pakistani police said they had taken security measures for the players in order to avoid any problems with angry fans on their return to their cricket-obsessed homeland.

 

The team went out in the first round of the tournament after a stunning loss to Ireland, sparking protests by angry fans as well as speculation about a possible link between Woolmer's murder and match-fixing gangs.

 

"We have taken security measures and will ensure their security, but so far we are not sure on which flight they are coming," Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said.

 

Sources said the players might arrive on separate flights to Lahore and Karachi via Dubai.

 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday deplored the murder of the 58-year-old Woolmer but played down suggestions that corruption was involved.

 

Aziz, in Hong Kong for a business forum, said Woolmer's death had been a tragedy and called for the culprits to be "brought to book no matter who they are."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)