South Africa will host Bermuda women's cricket team World Cup qualifiers following the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to move the matches from Pakistan because of its current state of political turmoil.

The qualifiers were plunged into jeopardy following the assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during a political rally last month.

Bermuda will now take on hosts South Africa, the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea in Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape Province, from February 18-24.

Originally scheduled for Lahore last November, the qualifiers were postponed just weeks before the start of the competition after Pakistan's military ruler President Perez 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.

But the assassination of Ms Bhutto, which saw 20 killed when the man who shot her blew himself up, has heightened the security risk further, prompting yesterday's decision by the ICC.

Bermuda's coach Allan Douglas said he was relieved the qualifiers had been moved to South Africa and admitted his players had been nervous about playing in Pakistan.

"It's been a difficult few months for myself, the players and our families," said Douglas. "Since the first postponement it's been hard to keep everyone motivated and focused. Obviously there has been concerns and worries.

"But the players are real troopers and they will be good to go by the time we leave for South Africa. We resumed training at the weekend and although the players had not then learned about the change in location, it was a really good session.

"We took a break before Christmas and then there was New Year, but it's back to business from now on and we will be stepping up the training."

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. Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies have already qualified for the tournament.

The Women's World Cup was first played in England in 1973, although next year's showpiece will be the first played under the ICC banner, following the merger of the International Women's Cricket Council with the ICC in 2005

Australia are the current holders of the trophy having won the last global event in 2005, which was played in South Africa.