The national anti-terrorism prosecution has opened a preliminary investigation for “attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise”, after the explosion that occurred before the start of the Dakar-2022, on December 30 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second city, which seriously injured driver Philippe Boutron, 61, repatriated after undergoing surgery in Saudi Arabia.
This explosion “affected the vehicle occupied by a crew of five French”. The investigations into this explosion are entrusted to the direction of internal security (DGSI), specified the Pnat in a press release.
- Saudi Arabia rules out criminal act, France does not
Saudi authorities on Saturday ruled out a criminal act to explain what they called an “accident”. For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs had called on its nationals to “maximum vigilance”, adding on the contrary, from the start, that “the hypothesis of a criminal act” was “not ruled out” and recalling that “the terrorist threat persists in Saudi Arabia”. The organization of the race had explained that a “malicious act” was not excluded.
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“We told both the organizers and the Saudi officials that we had to be very transparent about what had just happened, because there were hypotheses that it could be a terrorist act”, noted this Friday Jean-Yves Le Drian on BFMTV and radio RMC. “There have already been terrorist acts in Saudi Arabia against French interests,” he added.
- Jean-Yves Le Drian’s doubts about the continuation of the event
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs has expressed doubts about the continuation of the ordeal. “We thought maybe it was worth giving up on this sporting event. The organizers decided to keep (it) going,” he said. The question of stopping the Dakar-2022 rally in Saudi Arabia “arises” after the explosion which hit a vehicle and is “perhaps” linked to a “terrorist attack,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian. “In these cases, you have to be very careful, at least put in place sufficient and reinforced protection devices. I think they did it but in any case, the question remains unanswered,” he said. he adds.
To which the director of the rally-raid, David Castera, replied, later in the day, that there was “no additional element to speak of cancellation” of the Dakar. The entourage of the Minister of Foreign Affairs later clarified his remarks by indicating: “The question that arises relates to what happened and not to the possible suspension of the Dakar-2022.”
David Castera for his part added: “We have reinforced security at the bivouacs, hotels, departures and arrivals”, without being able to give a quantified assessment at 5 pm. AFP, present on site, saw a strengthening of the police presence at the entrance to the bivouac and on the start of the special on January 2, with no real development since.
- Saudi kingdom in embarrassment
The explosion of a vehicle on the Dakar-2022 is embarrassing Saudi Arabia, as the conservative kingdom seeks to establish itself as a stronghold of world sport, experts say. “It is a blow for the organizers and for Saudi Arabia”, estimated to AFP Pascal Boniface, director of the Institute of international and strategic relations (IRIS) and specialist in the geopolitics of sport.
“The Dakar is no longer in Dakar to avoid problems of the threat of attacks and security. And there again security issues are introduced, reminding us of the fragility of an organization of a race of this type. understood in a country that one might think secure, “he said.
Before being moved to South America (in 2009) then to Saudi Arabia, the rally-raid crossed the Sahel in particular. A move intended to distance it from the terrorist threat or armed conflicts, which claimed the lives of two participants in the 1990s. Saudi Arabia has been hosting the Dakar since 2020, emphasizing its breathtaking desert landscapes as well as its relative security stability . The wealthy oil monarchy in the Gulf, where government communication is locked, has not reacted to the investigations launched in France. “The silence reflects unease and shows that the (Saudi) authorities do not know how to react to an event which took them by surprise”, emphasizes Pascal Boniface.
The Dakar-2022 incident comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is spending lavishly to win in the organization of major world sporting events, like its two small neighbors in the Gulf, Qatar and the Arab Emirates. United. In recent years, the ultra-conservative Saudi kingdom has embarked on a policy of diversifying its economy, ultra-dependent on oil, the country attempting to diffuse an image of openness and modernity, with great blows of international competition and of pop concerts.
- Several incidents since the creation of the Dakar
Initially an African rally-raid between the French and Senegalese capitals, the Dakar, which has spanned three continents, has experienced several security incidents since its creation in 1979 by Thierry Sabine. In 1991, a French driver of an assistance truck was shot dead in Mali, in a case which appeared to be linked to the conflict between the army and the Tuaregs. The perpetrators of the murder have not been identified. In 1996 in Morocco, a pilot was killed in the explosion of a mine laid by the Moroccan army while crossing an area disputed with the Polisario Front.
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The rally had to abandon Algeria in 1993 in the face of Islamist threats. It was then canceled in 2008, the day before his departure, because of terrorist threats in Mauritania made by the jihadist group Al-Qaeda. It had been relocated in 2009 to Argentina and Chile, then in 2020 to Saudi Arabia.
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