KINGSTON, May 14: The Police High Command in Jamaica on Monday said it was treating as speculation the reports that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of heart failure.

According to the police, they are maintaining their stance that Woolmer was murdered since the results of further tests are not yet available. "That will remain our position until the results of the investigation are known," said police spokesman Karl Angell in a statement. These include forensic and pathology analyses.

On Sunday, Jamaica Gleaner newspaper quoted a London source as saying a group of Scotland Yard investigators, who were asked to assist with the Woolmer probe, concluded that the Pakistan cricket coach died of natural causes and not manual strangulation as was reported by Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields in March.

According to the London source, there is no evidence to suggest that Woolmer was murdered, a case which the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is yet to prove conclusively.

In the meantime, Angell said the JCF is conducting an extensive and "thoroughly professional" investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.

"This has included a request to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in London to conduct a review of the investigation," he said. "The review included an independent verification of the pathology and toxicology analyses that had been conducted in Jamaica."

Angell has confirmed that DCP Mark Shields and Deputy Supt. Colin Pinnock have met with the Metropolitan Police review team and the pathology and forensic experts.

Last week, a Pakistan news agency had also reported that there was no clear evidence to prove that Woolmer was murdered. A coroner's inquest into the death, which was scheduled for April 23, was cancelled. The body has since been cremated.

DCP Shields and DSP Pinnock are now in Cape Town where they are briefing Mrs. Woolmer and her family on the progress of the investigation, as well as conducting a number of other investigations.—Agencies