DHAKA: West Indies has withdrawn its youths` team from the tour of Bangladesh in the wake of ongoing pre-election political turmoil which triggered wide spread violence.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in a statement said the decision was taken following consideration of a report on the situation in Bangladesh as prepared by WICB Security Manager Paul Slowe.

"Acting in the best interest of the safety and security of the West Indies Under 19 team, the West Indies Cricket Board has withdrawn the team from its tour of Bangladesh," it said in the statement.

According to the statement received here Monday, the report emphasized that the current security environment in Bangladesh is not conducive to the playing of cricket in light of the 72 hours nationwide blockade and calls for countrywide dawn to dusk protest.

The State Department of the United States of America has also issued a travel alert to its citizens living in and traveling to Bangladesh, it said.

Travel arrangements are being made to allow for the team`s return to the Caribbean as quickly as possible, it added.

According to the statement, the team will remain safely accommodated at the team hotel under adequate security protection until departure from Bangladesh.

Citing security concerns, the West Indies Under-19 cricket team Sunday declined to play Bangladesh U-19 in Chittagong, 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

The visitors expressed their reluctance after a bomb blast Saturday night in front of their hotel in the seaport city Chittagong, where the West Indies team has been residing.

An explosion had occurred a short distance away from the team hotel in Chittagong on Saturday evening.

The players and members of team management were not targeted and were not in immediate danger as a result of the incident, said the statement.

It said the WICB has contacted the parents and guardians of the players to advise them of the latest developments.

The West Indies U-19 team arrived in Dhaka early this month on a 19-day tour to play seven One Day Internationals against Bangladesh U-19 team.

Bangladesh has been rocked by small homemade bomb attacks in recent weeks.

Some 50 people have reportedly died and hundreds others injured in stray incidents of political violence since Nov. 26 in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

The country`s main opposition alliance enforced countrywide 72- hour road, rail and waterway blockade from Saturday morning to press home its demand for a non-party caretaker government to oversee national elections slated for next month.

United Nations Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez Taranco is currently visiting Bangladesh to hold talks with political parties to end the election standoff.

Source: globalpost.com

BDST: 1908 HRS, DEC 09, 2013