The threat of terrorism has caused the cancellation yesterday of the 2008 Dakar Rally, due to start today. The race, which was to be the 30th consecutive rally, was to start in Lisbon, Portugal and end on January 20 in Dakar, Senegal having crossed the Sahara Desert.
The endurance event is the world’s biggest off-road rally and Paris-based organisers Amaury Sport Organisation had said as late as Thursday that more than 500 cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads from fifty different countries were ready to go as scheduled. However, the organisation changed its mind under pressure from the French government.
Al-Qaida-linked groups are believed to have planned to attack the rally, and it is reported that specific threats were made against it by al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb, a regional African offshoot. The day before Christmas a French family on holiday in Mauritania was murdered and al-Qaida are believed to be responsible; the rally was scheduled to spend eight days in Mauritania.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb have recently seen a crackdown by authorities, but are continueing their operations and are now seeking to strike international targets. Last month they bombed the United Nations headquaters in Algiers; that attack killed 37.
The Mauritanian government had promised a 3,000-strong security force to protect the competitors but the remote location of the desert and scrubland involved would make effective security arangements almost impossible. French security consultant Louis Caprioli, former anti-terrorism head at the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, said “You would need really incredible security precautions, and I don’t think it’s possible with the new techniques of attack, such as suicide bombings.
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This story sparked a funny late night discussion on what a possible AQIM dakar car entry might look like...an all black WRX with the address of the AQIM website down the side.
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