(Nouakchott, Mauritania) On Christmas Eve, five French tourists from the same family on a sightseeing trip were attacked by three men armed with assault rifles. Sadly, four of the tourists were killed. The fifth was hospitalized in serious condition and, subsequently, he returned to France to recover.
According to investigators, the attack was well-planned and linked to al-Qaeda. Several suspects in the plot have been arrested by Mauritanian officials including Samba Kisi, who is believed to be the getaway driver for the murderers. Investigators have recovered an AK-47 and a Mercedes used in the killings. The attackers have fled to Senegal.
Meanwhile and understandably, French tour operators canceled planned trips to Mauritania.
Four days after the French tourists were slain, a terror attack on a checkpoint in northern Mauritania resulted in three soldiers being killed. Al-Qaeda in North Africa claimed responsibility in an audio tape sent to an Arabic television station.
Citing the danger of terrorist attacks, the French-based Amaury Sport Organization today announced the cancellation of the Dakar Rally, the 30-year-old automobile, motorcycle and truck race from Lisbon in Portugal to Dakar in Senegal. In response, al-Qaeda jihadis expressed joy on the Internet.
In the Jihadi website "al-hebah," Sadiq Ibrahim said that it was "a hellish blow by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb organisation," referring to al Qaeda's North African operation.
"Look how, with Allah's permission, the Jihad has succeeded in slowly changing the plans of the great powers, as it has now with France," said Abu Maysara al-Andalusi in a comment.
"A big company with a big organisational machine, is forced to change its plans and in this way we have devastated tourism and economic projects in that country," he said.
The al-Qaeda sympathisers also said that the recent deaths of French tourists in Mauritania had profoundly influenced the decision by the organisers.
The French government had urged the rally to avoid Mauritania after the family of four was slain last week in an attack blamed on the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terror group that uses the Mauritanian desert as a hide-out.
Cancellation of the Dakar Rally is a big deal. Almost 600 teams from around the world were preparing for tomorrow's scheduled start and countries along the route are going to be impacted financially.
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