Bangladesh postpones Pakistan team tour

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DHAKA (AFP) — The Bangladesh government Tuesday postponed the Pakistan cricket team's scheduled March tour and put a stop to all subsequent tours by all other foreign teams, saying it was unable to guarantee security.

Bangladesh sports minister Ahad Ali Sarker told reporters that the government had decided to stop all sports tours by foreign teams, citing security concerns following a mutiny at a military base in the capital last month.

"Our national security is not yet fool-proof. In these circumstances, it is not possible to invite any foreign team. That's why the tour of Pakistan team has been suspended for now," he said.

The Pakistan team were originally scheduled to play two Twenty20 matches and five one-day internationals from March 10-22.

Bangladesh initially confirmed on March 5 that it would be revising the tour's itinerary, two days after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore in which seven Sri Lankan players and the team's assistant coach were injured.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman Rabeed Imam told AFP that the tour had not been cancelled but no new dates had been set.

"The tour has been postponed again. It's not cancelled and the Bangladesh Cricket Board is trying to work out a new schedule with the Pakistani cricket authorities."

Another BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said that discussions were under way with Pakistan and that a November series was possible.

"We hope that after consultation with the Pakistan cricket officials we can find a time slot, maybe in November this year, for the series to come about," Yunus told AFP.

More than 70 people died when rank-and-file border guards turned on their superiors, killing at least 56 senior army officers, during a 33-hour bloody revolt in Dhaka on February 25 and 26 last month.

The events threatened the future of Bangladesh's recently-elected civilian government and exposed deep tension between it and the military.