Dakar Rally Canceled After Terror Threat (Paris-Dakar)

- Al-Qaida threats against the Dakar Rally and an attack in Mauritania forced organizers to cancel the annual race on Friday, the eve of the 5,760-mile trek across North African desert scrubland and savannah. It was the first time the automobile, motorbike and truck rally has been called off in its 30-year history. In a statement, organizers blamed "threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organizations." the Dec. 24 killings of a French family and international tensions.

The race's central appeal—its course through African deserts, scrubland and savannas—is also its weak point, making it difficult to protect thousands of people as they cross remote regions.

"No other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken," organizers said.

France, where the race organizers are based, had urged the rally to avoid Mauritania after the four family members were killed in an attack blamed on a terror cell that uses the Mauritanian desert as a hideout.

Officials say the cell is linked to the Algeria-based al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks, including the Dec. 11 twin suicide bombings at U.N. offices and a government building in Algiers, which killed at least 37 people.

Patrice Clerc, who heads the company that organizes the rally, told The Associated Press the threats against the rally came from al- Qaida's North Africa wing. He said the French government warned explicitly that the race was threatened but did not share its intelligence.

"Yes, we perhaps bowed to terrorism but our company today does not have the right to run this risk for all those people who trust it," Clerc added. "We don't have the right to play games with safety."

"This decision has no relationship with the actual security situation in Mauritania, a country that has always been stable and peaceful," said Foreign Minister Babah Sidi Abdallah.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he did not want to "stigmatize" Mauritania, but warned of the risks "in a very uncertain region and one crossed by the networks of al-Qaida in North Africa."

"We simply want those who risk a lot to benefit from our information," Kouchner told RTL radio. "We are warning them: It's dangerous."

Al-Qaida in North Africa, in a Dec. 29 statement posted on an Internet site that it often uses, criticized Mauritania's government for "providing suitable environments to the infidels for the rally." It did not directly call for attacks on the race or its participants.

In the past, terrorism fears have forced organizers to cancel individual stages or reroute the race. In 2000, several stages were scrapped after a threat forced organizers to airlift the entire race from Niger to Libya. Several stages were also called off in 2004, reportedly because of terror threats in Mali.

The race, organized by the France-based Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), had been due to start in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday and finish in Dakar, Senegal, on Jan. 20. Eight of the stages were to take place in Mauritania. Some 550 car, truck and motorcycle drivers were expected.

Cyril Neveu, a five-time Dakar winner in the motorcycle category, acknowledged that the race could have been targeted by terrorists.

"It is a big caravan of more than 3,000 people," he told French broadcaster I-Tele. He said he respected the organizers' decision but added: "Many are going to be disappointed."

"Providing security from the first to the last competitor is an onerous job," Neveu added. "One cannot say that there was zero risk."

Only the father of the slain family survived the Dec. 24 attack, in a town 150 miles east of the Mauritanian capital as the family picnicked on the side of a road.

That attack was followed up be another four days later, when three Mauritanian soldiers manning a checkpoint were killed. Mauritania is a largely peaceful Islamic republic that has been rocked by the back-to- back attacks.

Authorities have blamed a terror "sleeper cell" linked to the Algeria- based al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa for the murders of the family. Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for the killing of the soldiers.

The Mauritanian government had announced last week that it would mobilize a 3,000-man security force to ensure the race's safety.

Those in the country's tourism sector decried the loss, calling France's reaction "exaggerated and disproportionate."

"The worries expressed by the French are unfounded," said Mohamed El Moustapha Ould Cheibani, who heads a tour agency in Atar, a city 270 miles north of the capital, Nouakchott. "It's like getting punched in the back of our tourism industry."

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January 6, 2007
By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

A week ago, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to tracking Robby Gordon’s adventures as he made his way through the desert of Africa’s west coast during the 30th annual Dakar Rally.

Sadly, I have nothing to report. Not because Robby was in an accident. It was because he didn’t start.

None of the competitors did.

Friday, just hours before the race was supposed to kick off it’s first leg in Lisbon, Portugal, members of the Rally’s governing body, the A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organization), sent word out to the teams that they would not be racing this year.

The decision to call off the Rally was due to those direct security threats made by Al Qaeda to attack the race at some point during its two week run. Eight of the stages or the Rally had been set to take place in Mauritania. Pointing to the December 24th murder of four French tourists in Mauritania, the French Government strongly recommended that the ASO not proceed with the race.

The men and women who run the Dakar Rally are competitors down to their bones. The Rally is not easy, and is not undertaken lightly. It takes months of preparation, and lots of money, all to go out and race in the sand and sandstorms, and sleep in tents for two weeks.

People like Robby Gordon thrive on such an adventure, and when it is called off, they are understandably disappointed. “It’s a way of life for 6 months preparing for the Rally. To have it just cancelled is frustrating.” Robby said as he and his teammate, Ronn Bailey, stood in front of their Hummer H3 race trucks Friday.

“Why not just run a few specials here (in Portugal), and at least have the race,” said Gordon. “Then say OK, we can’t work it out, then cancel it then? But to cancel it before it even starts, that is difficult. I know my team spent millions of dollars and I can only imagine what the other teams have spent. I can understand the safety of human life and the spirit of the competitors and all that. Obviously Portugal has no problems with us, and we don’t have any problem here in Lisbon. Why not race two days going out and two days coming back, and then go that way and race two days going out and two days coming back? There’s solutions, and to cancel it is not one of them.”

Bailey - who is the CEO of Vanguard Integrity Professionals and was taking part in the race as part of Robby’s race team— stated he had found out that there was a very real threat to the drivers if they went into Mauritania. “In the last four days, I have been monitoring (the security situation) very close, and have established contacts with the United States Consulate in Mauritania and their security officer there who gathers ground intelligence, and they have been receiving information from the French and German intelligence agencies. We’ve been seeing the threat escalate and realized that the four (French) tourists that were shot (as they picnicked along the side of the road) last Monday, I knew then it wasn’t a random act. As we saw it escalating, one of the things I did to put extra plans in place for my team, if the race did continue on into Mauritania, was I put together an evacuation plan…including a ground team...to pick us up and take us to the (American) Embassy so we could get out. We also bought bullet proof vests…it sounds like a girly thing to do, but in my line of business, planning for what might come is the right thing to do.”

We here in the States take it for granted that we can go to a race and sit down and enjoy what is going on on the track and not worry about our safety other than maybe for the drunk person behind us throwing a beer can. The idea that Robby Gordon would have to wear a bullet proof vest at any time while he is behind the wheel of a race vehicle is a bit unnerving. That he would have to do it because of an Al Qaeda threat borders on bone chilling.

The week hadn’t started off well for Robby and his team. Despite the fact that Robby marked his 39th birthday on Wednesday, not much else seems to have gone right for the man. By mid week, it seemed his biggest issue was the fact that a ship with much of the teams equipment was broken down somewhere in the Atlantic. Robby commented on the setback on his Dakar Rally fan site.

Good evening everyone,

Here’s the deal...24 hours ago when the Monster army went to the port, they then found out the boat had trouble on the Atlantic. It will not be in Germany until the 6th of January

With that said, we have gone into our cat-like instincts and like a cat, we will always land on our feet running!

We have a 6x6 support truck in Lisbon already. Ronn Bailey has offered up his T4, which was picked up tonight by the guys that are in Europe already. Tomorrow they will arrive in Lisbon.

The race Hummers are 100% ready and were dropped off at LAX today at 4pm for a 4am flight to Amsterdam. When the Hummers hit the ground in Lisbon, they are ready to pull up to the start line on January 5th. We are scheduled to go through scrutineering on the 4th at 1pm. Don’t foresee any issues from here.

Also on that airplane is another complete container of spare parts that will get us through the rally. Transmissions, hubs, cvs, axles, alternators, brakes, steering racks, power steering pumps, radiators, master cylinders, you see where I’m headed here...don’t you?

Factory Dakar teams are prepared because we have thought ahead are very prepared ourselves!

Time will tell... RG

http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/KR/010608.html

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