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'Pakistan paying price'

AFP, Karachi
Gicket legend Imran Khan said Wednesday that Pakistan was paying the price for backing the US-led "war on terror" after Australia postponed a tour of the troubled country.
Imran, who captained Pakistan to World Cup glory in 1992 and then retired to become an opposition politician, blamed President Pervez Musharraf for the Australian decision to pull out of the tour.
"Musharraf blindly follows the United States in the war against terror and we are paying the price. Because of that we are now at a stage when no one is ready to play cricket here," Imran told AFP
Imran said fans would feel deprived by Australia's pull out from the tour, in which they were due to play two Tests and three one-day internationals starting from March 29.
"People feel the Australians are unjustified in pulling out. but Australia's decision is understandable as everything that happens in Pakistan is magnified to larger proportions abroad," said Imran, who played 88 Tests for his country.
Australia put off their tour to Pakistan on Tuesday over security fears on the day when two blasts left 26 dead in Lahore -- a city where they were due to play a Test
and one-day match.
"Australians don't live here and they don't know that bombings are not aimed at sportsmen but terrorists' targets are specific. No one has ever targeted sportsmen in Pakistan."
Imran has been a vocal oppo-
nent of Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999 and then backed the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
He heads the opposition Movement for Justice party and was detained for several days in November when Musharraf declared a state of emergency and locked up thousands of opponents.
Imran accused the Musharraf
regime of fomenting violence by carrying out military operations in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, an alleged haven (or Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
"No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 and there was no history of suicide bombing in Pakistan, yet we are now engulfed in terrorism and since we are fighting someone clse's war, we are in trouble," Imran said.
"Our own army is waging a war against Pakistani civilians in tribal areas and in turn they arc taking revenge, which has endangered daily life."
Imran said cricket in Pakistan would lose out in terms of money and interest.
"This pull out by Australia will make Pakistan cricket poorer. I lad they toured it would have created a lot of interest as everyone wants to see them play here. That is gone now for at least until the tour is rescheduled," he said.
"Pakistan will also lose revenue by not hosting a high-profile scries and wc have come to a position where wc only play minnows like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh."
The Pakistan Cricket Board TYtesday said they were insured against any losses from the pullout and had arranged a five-match one-day series and a 1\venty20 match series with Bangladesh, the schedule of which will be announced soon.