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South Africa to continue Pakistan tour despite blasts

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Last updated on: October 19, 2007 19:01 IST

South Africa will continue their cricket tour of Pakistan after being given full security assurances by the Pakistan Cricket Board and government officials.

The South Africans had expressed concerns over the tour continuing on schedule after a suspected suicide bomber killed 133 people in an attack on the rally of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi on Friday.

"We are satisfied with the assurances given to us by the PCB and their security officials. But we will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and it can change," Logan Naidoo, manager of the touring team told a news conference.

Earlier in the day team spokesman Owen Smith expressed shock over the incident and said the team would take advice from independent security consultants to decide whether to continue their tour.

The attack targeting the former Pakistani prime minister happened as she was driven through Karachi on her return from eight years in exile.

"Obviously, the security of the players is of paramount concern to us and we are shocked by the devastating incident in Karachi," Smith had said.

"We will be getting feedback from our independent security consultants on the situation."

South Africa played Pakistan in the first one-day international on Thursday in Lahore and the second is scheduled for Saturday at the same venue.

The remaining matches are in Faisalabad on Oct. 23, Multan Oct. 26 and Karachi on Oct. 29.

Security has been tight on the tour with dozens of uniformed and plain-clothed policemen and commandoes looking after the South Africa team.

They played a three-day game and the first Test in Karachi without any incident.

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