AKATHMANDU : Pakistani police have made their first arrest in the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team, and determined that the assailants planned to take the athletes hostage, a senior official said today.

Pervez Rathore, police chief in the city of Lahore where the March 3 attack occurred, said the arrested suspect, Mohammad Zubair, was a member of a banned militant group, as were six other suspects in the assault. He refused to name the group.

Gunmen sprayed the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus with bullets and fired a rocket and a grenade as it traveled to a match against Pakistan in Lahore. Seven players were wounded and six police killed before the bus sped off and eventually reached the safety of the stadium. Zubair has not been formally charged, and is to appear in court soon, Rathore said. Zubair confessed to taking part in the attack and told the motive was to capture the cricketers, Rathore said.