New Zealand refuses to play in Kenya.... - following security concerns

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WELLINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) says its team would not play its scheduled World Cup match in Kenya next month, claiming the security risk for players was too high.

After a day-long board meeting on Friday, NZC said it did not believe the decision to play in the Kenyan capital Nairobi made by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday was reasonable.

"The information received by the ICC Security Delegation to Kenya made it clear that there is a tangible terrorist threat in Nairobi and the board has seen nothing which changes that," NZ Cricket said in a statement.

The chairman of the Kenya Cricket Association, Jimmy Rayani, said he would probably appeal personally to New Zealand cricket authorities to ask them to change their decision.

"I still hope that they will reconsider their decision if they actually made one, and come and play cricket," Rayani told Reuters. "We have said all along that their concern about security is misconceived and based on wrong premises."

Kenyan sports minister Najib Balala welcomed the ICC's decision to give the go-ahead to matches in Kenya.

"Contrary to fears expressed by our sister Commonwealth country New Zealand, ours is a country that continues to enjoy peace and tranquillity and does not have any terrorist cells as alleged," Balala said in comments broadcast on Kenya's KTN television.

Sharad Ghai, chairman of Kenya's cricket World Cup organising committee, said Kenya had put in place an equivalent level of security to that in South Africa, where New Zealand has said it would be willing to play.

"It's very disappointing that they're planning to take this kind of action, it's not good for the game," Ghai told Reuters. "I don't blame them for being extra cautious, but I expect them to be fair."

Zimbabwe and Kenya retained their preliminary matches for the World Cup after an ICC tele-conference on Thursday to discuss potential security fears.

The ICC rejected a plea by New Zealand to switch their February 21 match against Kenya from Nairobi to South Africa, while no formal resolution was presented by England to shift their game against Zimbabwe away from Harare.

Chief tournament organiser Ali Bacher said on Friday that NZC's decision was "unfortunate" and added that the match would not be switched to South Africa and the Black Caps would lose their points.

NZC said it would now resolve the matter through "legal processes" but gave no details.

It has potential recourse to a six-man ICC technical committee that has the power from Sunday to consider any appeal to move matches for security reasons.

Six World Cup matches are scheduled for Zimbabwe and two in Nairobi. The remaining 46 games in the tournament, which starts in Cape Town on February 9, will take place in South Africa.

NZC had urged the world governing body to move their match after a security review discovered "active terrorist organisations" operating in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

But ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said there were no sufficient reasons to move the game.

Speed said only New Zealand and England had voted in favour of transferring the match while the Netherlands, who have a game scheduled for Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, had abstained.

MAXIMUM PUBLICITY

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Phil Goff said he understood why NZC had chosen to default the match.

Though there is no specific information that said the World Cup or New Zealanders were being targeted, the intention of terrorists was to target westerners for maximum publicity, Goff said.

"The current controversy may have heightened the threat by giving the event greater profile," he said.

The tournament has been plagued by doubts over plans to hold games in both Zimbabwe and Kenya

Security fears about Kenya were heightened after a suicide bombing killed 16 people in an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in the city of Mombasa in November. Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the bombing.

New Zealand's cricketers have been close to three terror attacks in Sri Lanka and last May the team pulled out of a tour of Pakistan after a bomb attack outside their hotel in Karachi killed 12 people.

Kenya's new President Mwai Kibaki pledged last week to beef up security for the two World Cup matches in the east African country.
 

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