France wants Dakar to skip Mauritania
French ministers discussed safety at the rally at a cabinet meeting Thursday, and foreign ministry officials met with the race's French organizers, government spokesman Laurent Wauquiez said.
"The ministry strongly warns all French citizens against going to Mauritania until further orders," Wauquiez said. "That goes for all French, as well as the organization of the Lisbon-Dakar rally."
Only the father of the slain family survived the Christmas Eve attack in a town 150 miles from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, as the family picnicked on the side of a road. Authorities blamed a terror group linked to the Algeria-based al-Qaida in North Africa.
Rally director Etienne Lavigne subsequently met with Mauritanian and French authorities to examine security. Organizers said he obtained guarantees of reinforced security measures along the route. ESPN.com