'No suspects identified' in Woolmer case

Police in Jamaica investigating the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer have rejected reports that three men have been identified as suspects.

Reports in the British press indicated that police were seeking three fans who were allegedly "close" to the Pakistani team and who left Jamaica shortly after Woolmer's murder.

Deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said that the reports were wrong and said that such speculation was unhelpful to the investigation.

He said that police were not yet ready to name potential suspects and warned that the inquiry was likely to take some time.

Woolmer, 58, a former England cricketer, was found dead in his hotel room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston on March 18, 24 hours after Pakistan's shock defeat to Ireland in the cricket World Cup.

Police later confirmed that Woolmer had been murdered on Friday, after further tests revealed that he had been strangled.

Police are continuing to study footage from the hotel corridor where Woolmer's room was in a bid to find images of his killer or killers.

It is believed that he was attacked by someone he knew, as there were no signs of a struggle in his hotel room.

Members of the Pakistani squad have been questioned by police, while police also want to interview other people staying at the hotel at the time of Woolmer's death, including players from both the West Indies and Ireland teams.

The hard drive of Woolmer's computer is also being examined by police in order to find a possible motive for his murder.

There has been speculation that there may be a link between Woolmer's murder and allegations of match-fixing and police have not ruled out any possible motives.

On Monday, Dr Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, confirmed that Woolmer has announced that he would step down as Pakistan coach and retire from international coaching following the team's defeat.

(KMcA/JM)