Bermuda women's cricket team's World Cup qualifiers have again been thrown into jeopardy because of host nation Pakistan's state of political turmoil.

The qualifiers had already been put back from November to February because of security concerns and are now seriously under threat following the assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday.

Bermuda had been scheduled to play South Africa, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea in Lahore between February 18 and 25.

Following yesterday's assassination, rioting broke out across the country and at least nine people were killed in the angry scenes. Earlier, 20 were killed when the man who shot Ms Bhutto blew himself up in the crowd attending a political rally.

Back in November the qualifiers had to be postponed just weeks before the event when Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf declared the country in a state of emergency. The decision was a made following independent security reports and extensive discussions by ICC management and the ICC Women's Committee.

The Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday said they were waiting on the ICC's decision on whether to postpone the qualifiers for a second time, or move the competition to a safer location.

The women's qualifiers involve Bermuda, Ireland, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, with the top two sides going forward to the ICC Women's World Cup in Australia in 2009.