Lahore, Mar. 23 : Pakistani cricket players are hoping that they would now be allowed to participate in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) after the Board of Cricket Control in India's (BCCI) decision to shift the event out from India.

"Players are now hopeful to participate in the lucrative tournament. As they were barred to tour India, but now the concern venue has been shifted out," The Nation quoted sources privy to some players, as saying.

Karachi, Mar. 23 : Former Pakistan cricket captain Zaheer Abbas has said that the shifting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) from India may further dent hopes of holding the 2011 World Cup in the region whose fate already hangs in uncertainty, especially after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.

Abbas termed the decision to shift the IPL from India to some other country as a `bad omen' for Asian cricket.

Islamabad, Mar. 23: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said that the decision of shifting the Indian Premier League (IPL) from India has proved its stance that it’s not only in Pakistan where terrorism can play havoc and target the sport.

“We have been saying that security is a problem around the world and a terrorist attempt could be made in any country. The decision of shifting the IPL out of India on security grounds verifies our version,” a PCB official said.

Brussels, Mar. 23 : The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack and the 9/11 are in Pakistan.

Addressing delegates at the Brussels Forum, Holbrooke said that the assassinators of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto are also present in the country itself.

"They're in Pakistan. In the western tribal areas, although it also extends down into Balochistan," The Nation quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

Washington, Mar. 23 : The famous Foreign Policy magazine has ranked Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari as the fifth biggest loser in the world.

"Zardari was known to be a bad guy long before he became Pakistan's president. Many of the closest friends of his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, could not stand him. Now, as it turns out, neither can most of the Pakistani people," the magazine stated.

Washington, Mar. 23 : While the political leadership in Pakistan is making an effort to reconcile and stabilise the country, the United States still feels that danger looms large over the country collapsing completely within the next six months.

The top Advisor to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), David Kilcullen has expressed serious concern over the rising extremism in Pakistan, and said that it could prove detrimental to the world peace.