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 Posted - 13 Dec 2009 : 14:22:45
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GMT, Friday, 11 December 2009
Al-Qaeda fear ends African rally
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8408197.stm
 Drivers Chris Harrill and Andrew Rattlidge said charities will lose out
A car rally for bangers from Plymouth to Banjul in Gambia has been cancelled because of fears that entrants will be kidnapped by al-Qaeda.
It follows Foreign Office advice relating to areas south of Morocco.
It says there is a history of kidnap in Mauritania, Mali and Niger and the risk of terrorist attacks remains high.
The challenge would have seen about 80 entrants attempting to drive old cars from Plymouth across the African continent.
Travel advice to Mauritania changed after three Spaniards were kidnapped at the end of November by what is believed to be al-Qaeda's north African cell, Islamic Maghreb.
In January a British man, Edwin Dyer, was kidnapped in Niger by al-Qaeda militants and later killed in Mali.
Julian Nowill, the man behind the rallies, said: The Foreign Office said quite fairly that the country (Mauritania) was too risky."
If we don't take on that advice we would be crazy
Driver Chris Harrill
He said the three kidnapped Spaniards were "on the road that we were planning to drive".
He added: "It is very disappointing for everyone involved, the African charities, hoteliers and other people en route who depend on us to make a living, but I'm sure this advice is right."
The rally, originally called the Plymouth-Dakar, was set up in 2003 as an alternative to the Paris-Dakar rally.
Aimed at people with a limited budget, the rules state that competing vehicles must cost no more than £100.
'Pretty disappointing'
At the end of the rally the cars are sold to help African charities.
Last year's rally raised almost £67,000 for Gambian charities.
The entrants are now planning on meeting in Marrakesh in Morocco on Christmas Day.
IT managers Chris Harrill, 28, from Exeter, and co-driver Andrew Rattlidge, 28, from Newton Abbot, have spent months preparing their Peugeot 205 for the rally.
Mr Harrill said: "It's pretty disappointing because everyone is going to miss out, including the charities."
But he said the Foreign Office advice was "pretty clear".
"If we don't take on that advice we would be crazy," he added.
The Paris-Dakar race was cancelled on security grounds in 2008 after the killing of a family of French tourists in Mauritania.
The 2009 race was held in South America.
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