India reassures on security for sports events

India sought on Wednesday to reassure foreign teams that it would host a safe field hockey World Cup this month after a weekend bombing and alleged new threats raised fresh concerns over security.

We have made elaborate arrangements for the entire World Cup hockey event, Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP. The arrangements are foolproof.

Home Secretary G K Pillai said late on Tuesday that the government had put in place elaborate security measures to ensure an incident-free hockey tournament and Commonwealth Games in October in New Delhi.

We are in close touch with security liaison officers of all countries that are coming here to participate, Pillai told reporters. So far, all of them have seen the preparations done by the Delhi Police and the MHA (Ministry of Home Afffairs). They are quite satisfied.

New security concerns rose after last Saturday's bombing at a restaurant in the western city of Pune which killed 11 people, including an Italian woman and an Iranian man.

A previously unknown Islamist group that splintered from a larger organisation claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to an Indian newspaper.

The group, calling itself Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi, linked the attack to upcoming peace talks between India and Pakistan, set for February 25.

The India and Pakistan teams are set to meet on the first day of the hockey tournament which runs from February 28-March 13.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online news website said it had received a warning from Al-Qaeda-linked militant Ilyas Kashmiri about attacking sporting events in India.

The Pakistan-based extremist reportedly warned international competitors against going to the hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament that begins in March and the Commonwealth Games.

The report could not be verified by AFP, but the threat led New Zealand officials to delay the hockey team's departure for India until a security update had been received.

Hockey India, which is organising the World Cup in New Delhi, said no team had threatened to pull out of the World Cup.

As far as we know, all the 11 international teams are coming, said spokesman Anupam Ghulati. There are no concerns at all.

Any pull-out or disruption for India would be major blow as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games in October, the biggest event on Indian soil since the Asian Games in 1982 which organisers hope could open the way to an Olympics bid.

In an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian field hockey coach Ric Charlesworth brushed aside the security concerns.

Having lived in India, there are all sorts of threats every day and there are 80 news channels, Charlesworth told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Everyone is looking for a story. There is always a story like that. I don't think we can distract ourselves with that.