Terrorism threats cancel Dakar Rally

[2muchcoffeeman]

Well, that sucks.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOBBfadrDWE4XZWyvWTXWWwQcR2gD8TVAJSO0

PARIS (AP) — The Dakar Rally, the epic motorcycle, car and truck race across the Sahara desert, was canceled Friday by organizers citing "direct" threats of terrorism from al-Qaida-linked militants.
The race was deemed too inviting — and too easy — a target for the terror group's new north African affiliate. The roughly 550 competitors were to have embarked Saturday on the 16-day, 5,760-mile trek through remote and hostile dunes and scrub from Europe to Senegal in west Africa.
Organizers of the rally, once known as the Paris-Dakar, cited warnings from the French government about safety after the al-Qaida-linked Dec. 24 slaying of a family of French tourists in Mauritania — where most of the competition was to be held — and "threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organizations."
It was the first time that the 30-year-old rally, one of the biggest competitions in automobile racing, has been called off. The Dakar is one of the most prominent public events to be canceled since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when many sports events in the United States were canceled or postponed — some as a result of airport closings or in mourning for the victims.

 

[dixiehack]

I thought it was because the Dakar paper dropped the motorsports beat to focus on more local coverage.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

I know a kid who's from Dakar. He'll be pissed, because he follows it every year from over here in the States.

 

[Chi City 81]

I blame global warming.

 

[Bubbler]

The thing of it is, even if terrorism factored in, it would be not be ranked No. 1 on the list of **** that can kill you in the Rally. That's one dangerous event.

 

[writing irish]

Damn it, this had all the makings of a postmodern version of a Paul Bowles short story.