The Dakar Rally is set to be cancelled over safety fears following the death of four French tourists in Mauritania last month.
Three attackers, reported to have links to Al-Qaeda, gunned down the tourists near the border with Senegal on Christmas Eve, with three soldiers then killed by gunmen a matter of days later close to the Western Sahara.
It led to the French government warning its citizens not to travel to the country due to the ‘terrorist risk', with spokesman Laurent Wauquiez also stating that the government felt the Dakar should not enter the country – which was due to host stages from 11 January.
"The organisers of the rally were informed of the risk assessment during a meeting at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs," he said. "The ministry strongly advises all French people against travelling to Mauritania until further notice. That goes for all French people, as well as for the organisation of the Lisbon-Dakar rally."
Event organisers then responded to the comments by stating that they would speak to both the French and Mauritanian governing authorities to get information on the new threat, which comes after extra security staff had been promised to ensure a safe passage for the event through the Mauritanian stages.
However, with the ever-present threat of terrorist activity during the Mauritanian leg of the event, one of the competing drivers – who asked not to be named – told
Reuters that the event is now to be cancelled just one day before it was due to start from the Portuguese city of Lisbon.
"We now hear it is very likely the race will be called off," he said. "Some teams have been told by organisers it would be called off."
As of yet, there has been no official comment from event organisers, with an announcement due to be made at 1200 GMT as to whether the rally will go ahead or not.
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