LAHORE, March 5: Punjab Governor Salman Taseer criticised former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday for blaming his government for a ‘security lapse’ which led to Tuesday’s attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

Mr Taseer said the report of a high-level inquiry into the incident would be ready by Friday and would be made public.

Addressing a news conference at his secretariat, he also criticised television anchors and some politicians who, he said, had become security experts and were accusing the government of having failed to provide security to the visiting team.

The governor alleged that Shahbaz Sharif had not passed on to the new government a CID report indicating the possibility of an attack sponsored by Indian intelligence agency RAW on the Sri Lankan team and then brandishing it to blame the present set-up for failing to protect the players.

“Shahbaz Sharif and the so-called security experts were to tune with people like ICC match referee Chris Broad and Indian politicians who are using the incident to defame Pakistan,” he alleged.

The governor said security agencies had found valuable evidence. “We have made arrests

and seized weapons and other items, but I don’t want to reveal anything more right now.”

He said the inquiry report would also reveal security lapses, if any. If there was any negligence, it could have been at the lower level. He said anyone found responsible for a security lapse would be punished.

He said the country’s police and security agencies like the Intelligence Bureau and the Inter-Services Intelligence were jointly investigating the incident and he was being kept informed about developments.

The governor said the CID had sent a letter to the government on Jan 22 and Mr Sharif was disqualified on Feb 25. The new government under him did not receive the letter sent in January or any new advice, he said.

“Neither Mr Sharif nor his chief secretary informed me or the new administration about the letter so that we could prepare for any eventuality. They knew about the letter and we did not. And if they knew about it, why didn’t they inform us?”

He said Mr Sharif had taken away with him the six-week-old official letter and was now brandishing it to accuse the government of having failed to protect the team.

The governor said official security warnings were a routine matter. Such warnings had also been issued about his own security. “Security is increased after such warnings, but one cannot maintain it permanently to allow normal life to continue,” he said.

Refuting opposition’s claim that the incident had taken place because of a reshuffle in police and the administration, he said he had not changed CID’s additional inspector general, the home secretary and the Lahore commissioner and district coordination officer to maintain continuity of the law and order policy.

He said the Pakistan Muslim League-N government had constituted a committee on Jan 24 and recommended standard operating procedure (SOP) for the one-day match with Sri Lanka. The same SOPs were adopted for the Test. “You cannot change the SOPs with a change in government,” he said, showing copies of the security plan to reporters.

He said Mr Sharif had used the attack to tarnish the government’s image. “We did not change any officer but Mr Nawaz Sharif asked the administration to defy our instructions, inciting them to civil obedience. They did it after their disqualification, whereas President Zardari pleaded for the security of Pakistan after the assassination of Ms Bhutto,” he said. He accused former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of declaring an ‘open revolt’.

The governor said he had ignored security warnings and gone to the scene of the attack ‘within no time’, met the Sri Lankan team, supervised medical assistance and saw them off at the airport.

Mr Taseer said six policemen had sacrificed their lives in Lahore and made the highly trained, equipped and motivated terrorists flee, while Mumbai reacted six hours after terrorists had struck, killing about 300 people.

Criticising the CCTV footage showing the terrorists fleeing without any fear, he said the police escort was there to protect the team and not to hunt them down. “We are decorating the dead and the injured tomorrow.”

He said the terrorists were ‘a small army’ whom the police repelled.

The governor said there was adequate police escort with the Sri Lankan team, but the government could not provide them bullet-proof vehicles because of lack of resources.

A coaster carrying the Pakistani team was following the Sri Lankan team, but it returned to the hotel after the attack, the governor said, refuting Chris Broad’s allegation that the Pakistani players had been deliberately stopped from going with the Sri Lankans.

Mr Taseer said he never blamed Shahbaz Sharif for any act of terrorism during his government. “I could have done so over the suicide bombing in Dera Ghazi Khan, but we need to face terrorists together,” he said.
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