What a shame. I've always enjoyed watching the Dakar coverage, especially the behemoth trucks blasting through sand dunes and the crazy bikers.
You can't blame the organizers for canceling. If they'd gone ahead and spectators had been killed, the rally itself would likely have met the same fate. At least there's a chance of coming back from this, although there will likely be annual threats now.
I hope that Mauritania and the other countries have a good look at their bottom line and see how much Al Qaeda has cost them in lost revenue and image.
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The precedent that should be taken from this disappointment and definitely applied to Turkey and Bahrain's F1 races:
No security, no prestigious international event revenue.