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Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has sought unconditional apology from controversial ex-Test pacer Sarfraz Nawaz on match-fixing charges, Akram's lawyer said Friday.

In a letter, copy of which is exclusively acquired by SADA News, Akram has given Sarfraz one week to apologize or face defamation suit to the tune of Rs. 10,000,000. "Our client is one of the most outstanding cricketers in the world and has been conferred the 'Life Time Achievement Award' by the President of Pakistan and 'Pride of Performance' award by the Prime Minister.

Apart from such a distinguished record, our client is a conscientious public-spirited citizen," Akram's lawyer Zahid Ebrahim said in the letter.

Sarfraz, during his testimony before a World Cup match-fixing probe, alleged that Pakistan threw two matches - against Bangladesh and India - in the 1999 World Cup and further alleged Akram has assets of over three billions rupees. "Akram has actively participated in public service campaigns and associated himself with a school for special children and even organized exhibition matches for charity.

"In the face of such record, our client was shocked and dismayed to learn that you have levelled false and defamatory allegations against the Pakistan cricket and our client while recording a statement before the inquiry commission of Justice Karamat Bhandari of the Lahore High Court on 2-9-2001."

The Bhandari Commission was constituted in May this year after Pakistan Cricket Board asked President Pervez Musharraf, also a patron of the PCB, to initiate an inquiry into World Cup match-fixing allegations. Pakistan's surprise loss against Bangladesh and India raised doubts of it being fixed.

South African official Dr Ali Bacher last year alleged Pakistan played two fixed games in World Cup 1999 and that the information was passed to him by former PCB chief executive Majid Khan. "You have falsely alleged before the inquiry commission that certain matches of the Pakistan cricket team led by our client during the 1999 World Cup were 'fixed'. Equally false and preposterous is your malevolent claim that our client is a 'major player in the match-fixing saga' and has assets of over three billion rupees," the letter said. Akram's lawyer said the allegations are exceptional and false.

"The above defamatory statements are not only false, but exceptional for their unrestrained malice. With vicious single mindedness you have sought to incite hatred against our client and ruin his career and life," the letter said.

"There is no factual basis or other justification for such a defamatory attack on our client. It is either professional rivalry or the eagerness for cheap publicity which has motivated you to steep to disappointingly desperate levels of malice. You have exposed yourself to a serious claim for damages, which are conservatively estimated at Rs. 10,000,000," it said.

"Your aforesaid defamatory statements have caused severe pain, agony and distress to our client, his family, and friends. Therefore, you are hereby called upon to tender an unconditional apology to our client within seven days of the receipt of this letter. Failure to issue such an unconditional apology will leave our client with no alternative, but to initiate legal action against you for damages in an appropriate court of law," it added. Akram was fined Rs. 300,000 on charges of non-cooperation with Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum's inquiry on match-fixing last year.

© Dawn