Australia staff leave tour in uncertainty to Dhaka
Australian officials were Tuesday returning after assemblies with high level security figures from Bangladesh, but no final decision has been taken on the approaching Evaluation tour, Cricket Australia said.
The departure of the team was delayed on security anxieties on Sunday, prompting Dhaka to vow to give you the type of measures normally reserved for visiting heads of state in the event the tour goes.
CA’s anti-corruption and security supervisor Sean Carroll and top security and intelligence officials met on Monday in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan and Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who insisted there was no danger to the players, were also in the assemblies.
In delaying the departure of the team, CA chief executive James Sutherland said a possible security threat had been identified by the Canberra authorities in Bangladesh to its nationals’ interests.
On Monday the British government warned that militants could be targeting western interests in the united states, the exact same day that attackers in Dhaka shot dead an Italian charity worker.
“UK officials are informed to restrict attendance at occasions where westerners may assemble,” it said in a travel advisory.
Bangladesh prides itself on being a largely average Muslim state but the grisly killings of some atheist bloggers this year rocked the state and started a crack down on hardline Islamist groups that are local.
The initial Test is scheduled from the second from October 17 as well as October 9 in Chittagong in Dhaka following a three-day warm up match scheduled to begin in Fatullah on Saturday.
