Tamils want Black Caps cricket tour called off

Relevant offers

Cricket

Clarke stars as Australia hold on vs Sri Lanka Get runs, stop theirs to win in 50-over game Teen Tom Latham boosts his bank balance Training mishap puts key bowler in doubt Injury clouds over Guptill, Oram only negative NZ batsmen dine out again but places open Gavaskar inducted into ICC Hall of Fame Roaming horse stops club cricket match Lucky break lead Bracewell down cricket path Wizards internationals out of T20 match

New Zealand-based Sri Lankan Tamils want the Black Caps' cricket tour of their home country this year cancelled.

They point to reports that at least 20,000 civilians were killed in the Sri Lankan military's final offensive against the separatist Tamil Tigers last month. They say about 300,000 people are being detained, with thousands still missing.

Led by the Wellington Tamil Society, they wrote to Prime Minister John Key asking for his support in calling off the tour.

Ram Sri Ramaratnam, the president of the society, said Sri Lanka was guilty of "genocide".

"What is happening in Sri Lanka at present is as catastrophic, if not many times worse, than what happened in Zimbabwe and even in South Africa," he said.

A spokeswoman for Key yesterday said the Prime Minister would not be able to meet with the Wellington Tamils due to "pressures on his schedule".

She could not comment on whether Key supported the call to cancel the cricket tour.

The team's July tour to Zimbabwe was postponed after Key voiced concerns over political unrest and deteriorating security in the area.

New Zealand cricket players' boss Heath Mills said yesterday that the tour to Sri Lanka would ultimately be in the Government's hands.

"As I understand it, if a tour doesn't go ahead, it's one: for security reasons; or two: if ... the Government stops it from taking place," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News