PAK_PULLOUT_3-NATION_VETS_20OCT93

Pakistan has pulled out of a three-nation veterans' one-day cricket series which began in Bombay on Tuesday. The Pakistani players withdrew at the last moment after Islamabad refused clearance for the tour. The veterans' series is now being played between India and South Africa in the city's Brabourne Stadium.

Relations between India and Pakistan have touched a new low over the siege by thousands of soldiers of the Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir where 50-odd Moslem militants have been holed up since Friday. A bitter war of words between the two Asian rivals on the Kashmir crisis has also cast doubts on Pakistan's participation in next month's one-day series to be played by hosts India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.