Terrorists vow to target 2010 Commonwealth Games in India

The terror group al-Qaida has come out and said this week that they will target the Commonwealth Games in India later this year.

And like other countries competing in the Commonwealth Games in October in New Delhi, Bermuda officials are concerned by the deadly threat.

The Asia Times published a message reportedly from guerrilla commander Ilyas Kashmiri, whose Kashmir-based 313 Brigade is an operational arm of al-Qaida. The message warns of potential attacks on the Hockey World Cup, the IPL cricket tournament and the Commonwealth Games.

"We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games. Nor should their people visit India - if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences," the Asia Times quoted a translated message as saying.

The message was not verified, but the Asia Times said it had interviewed the leader of the group previously.

Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA) president Judy Simons said yesterday: "That is not a comforting feeling."

Simons, who is still in Vancouver at the Winter Olympics, said that Bermuda's Chef de Mission for the Commonwealth Games, Stan Douglas, would be travelling to New Delhi next month for the Chefs' meeting.

"Obviously that will be the number one issue for conversation," she added.

John Hoskins, former head of the BOA and who is the vice president of the Americas region of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said yesterday: "Obviously since the Mumbai attack the word has gotten out that you have to be extremely careful for the Commonwealth Games - and they have put in all sorts of measures to keep the Games secure.

"The Commonwealth Games Federation themselves have hired a company to go there regularly and assess the capabilities of the security programmes put in place by the organisers. And they are very happy with the progress with the security which is being put in place."

Hoskins, who first represented Bermuda as an Olympic official at the 1972 Munich Olympics when Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli athletes, said: "It (the threat of terror attacks at major Games) is one of those things. You are doing all you can and everybody involved are doing all they can (to protect the athletes and public) but once again you don't know if someone is going to come along with a bomb around his neck."

Hoskins did say that before the Commonwealth Games take place in October, the authorities will have the chance to test their security at a number of sports events.

"The Hockey World Cup will be taking place soon - that will be a good test of whether anyone is going to try and do something there. Also it will allow them to test a lot of other things like accreditation systems - to have the procedures in place to make sure that those accredited are the right people. It will be a very good run through before the Games. The IPL (cricket) will also have the same problems. There are a lot of sporting events before the Games and I don't see any reason why they should necessarily target the Commonwealth Games rather than the IPL."

This week during the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Shooting Championships - the first of many test events leading up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games - organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi did little to allay safety fears when he said in big events "security lapses were bound to happen."

Welcoming the Australian and the England team, who like many teams had security apprehensions in the light of al-Qaida's threat, Kalmadi said: "There would be some security lapse here and there but everybody would be safe. All the foreign athletes are very happy with the security."

India this week pledged tight security for upcoming sports events following the terrorist threats.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said India would not be deterred from hosting events.

"We are committed to provide security to everybody, including coaches, players, officials and whoever participates," Chidambaram said. "Nobody would be allowed to dictate terms to us."

But some athletes had second thoughts about competing in India after a bombing last Saturday night killed 11 people in a bakery popular with foreigners in the western city of Pune.

Australian cricket great Shane Warne said he was reconsidering playing in the IPL if the threats were proven to be credible.

Warne, who is set to leave later this month for India to captain and coach the Rajasthan Royals, said yesterday that the threat by Pakistani-based militants had him worried.

"The threats of the past 24 hours have certainly got me thinking twice and is of deep concern to athletes across a number of sports," Warne said.

He advised the organisers to consider moving the tournament if the threats are credible. South Africa hosted the Twenty20 IPL tournament last year due to safety concerns in India relating to a general election.