Murder came calling in the Caribbean

I thought Brian’s electrifying batting would dominate the news and bring a worthy end to his cricketing career which has often been steeped in controversy. I thought he would go out in a blaze of glory, cementing once and for all that he is the boss, silencing his critics and destroying his opponents, bat raised as he walked back into the pavilion — a winner. Well it may still happen! But for the time being, my dream was snatched by the mysterious murder of British-born Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica, last Sunday. The official report puts Woolmer’s death as asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation. This latest news has splashed Jamaica as headline news throughout the cricket world, much like the tear gas incident on the sixth Floor of the Hilton hotel, earlier this month where the Pakistan team and their coach Woolmer were staying.

That incident caused some anxious moments for the national security experts here, but strangulation is another thing. Had this been the storyline in some paperback, Woolmer’s death would have probably been diagnosed as a heart attack occasioned by the secret visit of a prostitute into his room. Of course this is not what happened!

My real concern really is how could murder take place when the entire world’s security forces were employed to make the World Cup a security success? Where were the International Police? Where was the hotel security? Surely the Pakistani team had its own security, didn’t they? What is it that could have caused this lapse in security, in this high tide of terrorist attacks? It is precisely because of concerns that such attacks are possible that the international security forces joined hands; that Caricom countries changed their laws to allow Big Brother America in to scrutinise travellers into the region; and that the region’s security forces are allowed free movement to assist less secured nations. With almost one more month to go, to the April 28th end of the World Cup, the security forces should be concerned! Today it’s murder but God forbid terrorists come calling.

Very early in the planning sessions, the media was bombarded with information about security arrangements for the event, in fact by June 2006, several security exercises for Cricket World Cup 2007 (CWC 2007) were already carried out in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and other Caricom States. Leading the initiative was Lance Selman, Director Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) — the organisation mandated by Caricom Heads to lead the strategic planning for the security of the event at the regional level.

The initiative involved not just collaboration with regional law enforcement agencies but also international agencies such as International Police (INTERPOL). For months on end the entire region discussed intelligence management, upgraded Customs, Immigration and Maritime border issues, for the 55-day event, which includes nine venue states across the region.

So how come this murder? And what does Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble have to say about this? Given the turn of event, should the police reopen their investigations into the case in which a tear gas canister exploded on the same floor as the rooms belonging to the Pakistan players at the Hilton hotel here? Trinidad faced the glare of the international media earlier this month when the Pakistani players had to evacuate their rooms. Three other teams, South Africa, Canada and Ireland were also housed at the Hilton at the time. National Security Minister Martin Joseph is yet to disclose where the tear gas came from. I am no Interpol officer but it might be worth somebody’s while to see if there is some kind of link here. So far as murder goes there is speculation of some betting mafia being involved. A BBC story pointed out that Woolmer had been South Africa’s coach in the 1990s when the team’s captain, Hansie Cronje, admitted taking money to fix matches and was banned for life.

Woolmer was never implicated, however, the article stated. The International Cricket Council is taking this match fixing theory seriously and according to ICC’s chief executive Malcolm Speed the Council’s anti-corruption unit will investigate. But then there is the violent passion of the Pakistanis who burnt effigies of Woolmer and former captain Inzamman ul-Haq after the team’s shocking loss to debutante Ireland. And Woolmer’s wife Gill, according to media reports feels that an enraged fan, angered by the fact that Pakistan was out of the tournament might have killed her husband.

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