Dakar Rally Canceled Due to Terrorist Threats
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/rally/42254/
e 2008 Dakar Rally has been canceled due to terrorist threats made by Al Qaeda to event organizers ASO.
Four French tourists were killed in a terrorist attack in Mauritania last week, and the French government warned the ASO that the risk of new attacks could not be discarded.
The ASO also insisted that the future of the event is not under threat despite the cancellation of the 2008 edition. Below is the organizers’ full statement.
*"Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 28th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organizations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by ASO.
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