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Cricket Victims See 'Inside Job'

Sri Lankans say security vanished; al-Qaeda may have played role

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 6, 2009 6:16 AM CST

(Newser) – An unexplained gap in scheduling at this week's cricket match in Lahore has led to angry speculation that the gunmen who attacked the Sri Lankan team may have acted on inside information. While the Pakistani and Sri Lankan teams had traveled together on earlier days, the Pakistani team left later on the day of the ambush. "Maybe they knew the information for the right time," said the Sri Lankan captain.

Yesterday the police arrested a number of suspects and found a cache of weapons. Although the government offered no further details, sources tell the Times of London that around two dozen people have been detained—most of whom belong to two outlawed militant groups with close ties to al-Qaeda. Early suspicions had fallen on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group that masterminded last year's Mumbai attack, but they have never struck inside Pakistan.

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Players of Pakistan's national hockey team lay flowers to pay tribute to Pakistani police officers who was killed in Tuesday's attack in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday, March 4, 2009. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)

Sri Lankan cricketers from left, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Chamara Kapugedara and Muttiah Muralitharan rest during a practice session in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

People pray for a Pakistani police officer who was killed in Tuesday's attack in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday, March. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)

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You tell me why supposedly 20 armed commandos were in our convoy and when the team bus got going again, we were left on our own. - Simon Taufel, cricket umpire attacked in Lahore, Pakistan

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Cricket Victims See 'Inside Job'