Pakistan "worried" after Woolmer murder inquiry launched

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, March 23 (Reuters) The Pakistan cricket team said they were very ''worried'' after Jamaican police launched a murder investigation into the death of their coach Bob Woolmer.

Police in Kingston said the Englishman's death on Sunday was ''due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation''.

''Tragic, yes, worrying yes, because we have a member of our team, a national coach of Pakistan who has been murdered and this is not something which can be taken lightly,'' the team's spokesman Pervez Mir told reporters at their base in the Ritz Carlton hotel.

''Because we have other members of team management, we have the team, of course we are all very worried right now.'' The 58-year-old Briton died on Sunday after being found unconscious in his hotel room. The previous day, Pakistan were eliminated from the Cricket World Cup by debutants Ireland.

''If a man dies of natural causes, that's life, that's nature,'' added Mir.

''But when somebody is murdered as we now know from the police this is very alarming and very worrying.

''It's a very, very scary situation for us ... when you hear something like this and a member of our team has been targeted.

''We don't know what's behind the murder. We have to get to the bottom of this. The loss we have suffered has to be investigated and the culprits have to be brought to justice.'' The players had flown out of Kingston earlier in the day after being questioned by police.

Reuters DH VP0700