South Africa will go ahead with their tour of Pakistan on condition that the country's authorities follow their stated security plan, the United Cricket Board said on Thursday.

The tour, which starts next week, was jeopardised after the UCB asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to amend the itinerary following advice from the South African government not to send the team to Karachi and Peshawar, two cities viewed as potential security risks.

The PCB refused, and a UCB security delegation visited Pakistan to assess player safety.

A joint media statement from the UCB and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) said the decision to tour had been taken after a meeting of the two organisations, team members, management and the security delegation.

Following these discussions, the UCB and SACA are pleased to confirm that the South African team will indeed depart for Pakistan on Sunday," the statement said.

"The UCB has emphasised, however, that the continuation of the tour is specifically conditional upon the Pakistan authorities in fact implementing their stated security plan on an ongoing basis and also upon the security risk in Pakistan not escalating to the extent that it is unacceptable."

The PCB had promised the South Africans the same level of security as that afforded to visiting heads of state.

South Africa are due to play three one-day internationals and three Tests, at Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi, between September 26 and October 27.

Pakistan has been a no-go zone for most cricketing nations since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. In May 2002, a suicide bomb outside a Karachi hotel where the New Zealand team were staying prompted a cancellation of the tour.

The current visit of the Bangladesh team is the first full tour to Pakistan by any country since the attacks.

Earlier report