No Pakistan tour without security clearance Says Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka will not tour Pakistan unless they get security clearance, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said. The PCB had asked SLC for their views on playing the scheduled series between the two sides in Pakistan, but Sri Lanka's stand, and a major terrorist attack on Sunday night at a Karachi military base very close to the National Stadium, have severely undermined any hopes of a tour.

"We have received requests from Pakistan over the past three or four months," Ranatunga said. "The PCB told us that they would like to host our team as scheduled in the FTP [Future Tours Programme]. We told them our stance that we need security clearance first before sending a team there again."

On Sri Lanka's last tour of Pakistan, the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked on its way to the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, cutting the tour short. There has not been any international cricket in Pakistan since. Afghanistan will become the first international team to play in Pakistan next week when they take on Pakistan 'A' in three 50-over games, but the PCB were aiming at a higher profile home series.

"We have sent them a fresh invite to play the series of three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 match in Pakistan in October-November," PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said on Sunday. "We are waiting for their response but we have given them full security assurances." His comments came before the reports of the attack in Karachi.

Meanwhile, SLC interim committee chairman Somachandra de Silva said Sri Lanka responded to the Pakistani invitation saying that they are not going to play the series in Pakistan.

"We have replied to the PCB and await their confirmation. We are not going to play in Pakistan at this stage and have offered to host the series in our country," de Dilva told the Daily Mirror. "If they agree to play in Sri Lanka they will have to bear the entire hosting costs. We have also expressed our willingness to play at a neutral venue in Dubai or Abu Dhabi."

de Silva had earlier told AFP that security clearance from a Pakistan Task Team, formed by the ICC in 2009, is essential before considering any tour of Pakistan. Ranatunga confirmed that there were several issues that need to be worked out before any series in Pakistan can take place.

"Pakistan cricket is going through a difficult period, and we are keen to help them out as they are one of our best friends. But we have to consider the safety of our players," Ranatunga said. "First we have to get the security clearance. Then only will we discuss it with the cricketers. You have to remember that most of them were victims of the previous attack."

Lokpal panel agrees to speed up bill drafting process

The negotiations on a draft Lokpal Bill today gained momentum with Government and civil society members agreeing on a number of basic principles of the proposed law and deciding to meet more often.

Emerging from a three-hour meeting, Union minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal expressed confidence that the draft of Lokpal Bill would be ready by June 30, as announced in a government notification, in time for introduction in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The meeting chaired by Finance minister Mukherjee took place in the backdrop of co-chairman Shanti Bhushan raising the issue of slow progress on drafting the bill and expressing doubts whether the June 30 deadline would be met.

He said that there was consensus on almost half of the 40 points brought to the table by the Anna Hazare's five-member team and the discussion on the same would continue when the Joint Drafting Committee meets again on May 30.
Bringing the higher judiciary and the Prime Minister within the ambit of the Lokpal were still sticking points and discussion on the same is expected to be taken up at the next meeting.
Hazare's team today presented a set of suggestions from some other civil society groups on the Lokpal Bill which also included recommendations of the public hearings on the issue held at various places across the country.
Sibal said that suggestions from other civil activists on the bill were welcome.
He said there was complete agreement on the issue of the authority of Lokpal being independent without any interference from the government.
Sibal said the Committee also decided to meet more frequently -- at least once a week, with more meetings if required.
The minister said that there was also an agreement in the meeting that the Lokpal will have power to look into any matter of corruption against public servants.
With agreement on nearly 50% of the basic principles, the Committee decided to direct the Legislative Department to begin drafting the Lokpal Bill.
Prominent lawyer Prashant Bhushan said there was agreement on many issues raised by the civil society members and on some other issues the government had conveyed its "in-principle" acceptance but wanted more discussions on finer aspects.
He said though the basic principles of the powers of Lokpal bill were "non-negotiable", the civil society members were "open for discussion" on details details of the Bill.
"The basic idea is to have an empowered Lokpal, which will have full autonomy, independence from the government and which will have powers to investigate complaints of corruption, prosecute all public servants. This principle is non-negotiable," he said
"But so far as the details of the bill are concerned, most of it is certainly available for discussions and any amendments are open for discussion," Bhushan said
Kejriwal said that the government has "so far not rejected" any principle. It has agreed to some principles totally, to some partially and said more discussions are needed on some of them, he said.