Jamaicans outraged over murder of Pakistani coach
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| Published on Friday, March 23, 2007 |
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By Patrick Moser
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP): Jamaicans on Friday expressed outrage over the murder of Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer, but the shock and the tight security failed to dampen their enthusiasm as the West Indies took on Ireland in the World Cup contest.
"It's shocking and most unfortunate it happened here in Jamaica during the World Cup," said Kevin Lawrence, a 40-year-old accountant, as he headed with his young son to Kingston's Sabina Park to watch what he said would be a certain victory by the Caribbean team.
"But the game must go on," said Lawrence, visibly as excited as his nine-year-old boy, who proudly pointed to the West Indies T-shirt and matching cap he had bought for the occasion.
"From what I heard, Woolmer would have wanted that," he said as he walked toward the high gates set up outside the stadium.
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said earlier that despite "a profound sense of shock" at the murder, the game of cricket "cannot be put off by a cowardly criminal act."
A former England international, Woolmer, 58, was found in his hotel room on Sunday and declared dead upon arrival at the hospital, one day after Pakistan's stunning defeat to Ireland, which saw the 1992 World Cup winners bounced out of this year's competition.
Police announced on Thursday that a pathologist's report showed Woolmer had been strangled to death.
Jamaicans, who braved seasonal downpours to attend Friday's game, expressed fears the killing would further hurt the image of the Caribbean island known for its palm-fringed beaches but also for its high crime rates.
A number of fans insisted the murder could not have been the work of Jamaicans, and blamed criminals involved in bookmaking and match-fixing rackets.
"It's bigger than us, it's obviously the work of an underworld mafia," said Oliver Powell, 44, who suggested, apparently jokingly, he himself lived off shady dealings.
"We have plenty of crime, but not that kind."
"Strangling is not part of our crime culture. Our culture is guns, knives and stones," he said as soldiers armed with automatic rifles and clad in combat uniforms slowly cruised along a sealed off road leading to Sabina Park, also patrolled by police clad in bullet-proof vests.
Like many other cricket fans on this Caribbean island, Powell expressed confidence the West Indies team would not only defeat Ireland, but would go on to claim the World Cup.
Both the West Indies and Ireland have already secured their places in the Super Eights, but the outcome of Friday's match will be vital, since the winning side will start the next stage of the competition with the two points they will gain from victory.
The enthusiasm for the game was evident across Kingston, where those who could not afford the entrance fee to Sabina Park huddled around radio sets, and some employers found themselves forced to let staff out early.
At the international airport, an immigration supervisor complained some officials had gone missing.
"They better not be watching the game," she said with a stern look on her face and what sounded like a tinge of envy in her voice. |
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