ICC security team commence Zimbabwe investigations

Leaders of the International Cricket Council gathered in Zimbabwe on Monday to assess whether or not the troubled southern African country would be capable of safely hosting World Cup cricket matches.

A three–day inspection tour by the ICC, the governing body of world cricket, will examine security preparations for 2003 World Cup matches beginning in Harare on Feb. 10.

It is being led by the council's chief executive Malcolm Speed and includes members from the six countries scheduled to play in Zimbabwe – Australia, England, Holland, India, Namibia and Pakistan.

Zimbabwe has been wracked by political and economic turmoil for the past 2 1/2 years. Nearly 200 people have been killed in political violence, most of them opposition supporters.

More than half the population of 12.5 million are facing famine, with acute shortages of food, gasoline, medical supplies and other essential commodities expected to worsen sharply in coming weeks.

Australia and Britain have called for intensified international pressure on Zimbabwe to protest human rights abuses and disputed presidential elections in March that kept longtime President Robert Mugabe in power.

Independent election observers said the poll was swayed by violence and vote rigging to keep the increasingly unpopular Mugabe in power.

Critics of matches hosted by Zimbabwe say they lend legitimacy to Mugabe, the patron of the local cricket union who once described the sport as a gentleman's game he wanted all Zimbabweans to play.

Since the nation's political crisis deepened, he has rarely attended cricket matches.

Earlier this month, ICC president Malcolm Gray said the inspection visit was concerned only with security measures and would not interfere in Zimbabwe politics.

"The political issues surrounding Zimbabwe are matters for politicians," Gray said. "While some countries have imposed specific sanctions on Zimbabwe, no government in any part of the world has identified sporting sanctions as an appropriate tool to achieve a political outcome."

Pakistan is currently touring Zimbabwe. The visitors have made no complaints over their security since arriving Nov. 1 and winning two Test matches and two one day cricket internationals.

Three more one day internationals are scheduled on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in Harare.

Zimbabwe cricket authorities on Monday announced strict security measures for Wednesday's match as a "dry run" for ICC rules laid down for the World Cup in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Streets will be sealed off by police around the Harare Sports Club. Spectators will be forbidden from their usual practice of bringing their own deck chairs, coolers, barbecues, air horns and other "nuisance items."

Other items including umbrellas and non–media cameras are banned. A moat of netting will circle the field to stop spectators running onto it and banners and flags attached to poles will not be allowed.

The ICC rules will not apply to the weekend matches between Zimbabwe and Pakistan at the Harare Sports Club.