Pak tour is on, as yet: Cricket Australia

Melbourne:

The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will not affect Australia's upcoming tour of the country, Cricket Australia on Friday.

CA spokesman Peter Young said there was no imminent danger to the tour and a final decision will be taken later, near the scheduled beginning of the tour.

"It's an appalling tragedy and we only hope that the civil situation in Pakistan can improve. But it has no impact over the cricket from a touring point of view.

"We will make our decision in late January or February, closer to the proposed dates," Young was quoted as saying by the 'Courier Mail'.

However, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd expressed concerns and said the government would monitor the developments in Pakistan to be sure of the safety of players.

Australia are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in March and April.

Australia will play in Pakistan after almost eight years, since their last tour in 1998. Their 2002 tour was also rescheduled because of security concerns and the then three Test-series was played on the neutral venues of Sharjah and Sri Lanka.