“France is considering ending the Dakar summit after an explosion in Saudi Arabia that seriously injured a French driver and critics are investigating whether they are suspected terrorists, the foreign minister said on Friday.
French authorities said on Tuesday that they had opened a December 30 terrorist bombing in Jeddah, leaving 61-year-old Philippe Boutron to undergo surgery for serious leg injuries before returning to France.
“We thought it might be a good idea to quit the game … the question is still open,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV, adding that “there were terrorists in Dakar.”
The grueling race, formerly called the Paris-Dakar and now called the Dakar, ran from the French capital on the way to the Senegalese capital Dakar.
But security threats on its way to North Africa mean that since 2009 it has happened in South America and since 2020 in Saudi Arabia.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
All five occupants, including the driver, were French.
One of the passengers, driver Thierry Richard, told AFP on Tuesday that he had no doubt that the vehicle was being deliberately monitored.
“It was an attack, it blew us up,” he said, adding that the incident sounded like “military”.
The explosive power lifted the car to the ground and immediately set it on fire, Richard said.
“We’re not stupid, we know what an explosion sounds like,” he said.
Boutron’s son said Thursday that his father had come out of a coma, even though both of his legs were “badly injured”.
France has warned its citizens in Saudi Arabia to “be vigilant – at risk of security” in the wake of the blast.
“The potential for terrorism has not been eliminated,” the ministry said in a statement.
France regularly monitors the wrongdoings of its foreign nationals.
The leader of the Dakar summit has called for an end to the ongoing conflict in Saudi Arabia following the explosion.
Franceinfo radio quoted Dakar chief David Castera in his letter as saying “the question is not being asked at this time” and that adequate security measures have been put in place for Saudi officials to ensure the convention goes smoothly.
‘Anyway?’
But in France, journalists and politicians have questioned the Saudi authorities’ insistence that the blast could not be blamed on any terrorist attacks.
“Should Dakar be held at any cost, although he strongly doubts that this was an attack,” asked the left-wing Liberation newspaper, noting that the organizers remained “too tight” for the incident.
Senator Jean-Pierre Sueur, a member of the opposition Socialist Party and former prime minister, meanwhile asked Le Drian to explain how the government is pushing for answers from Saudi Arabia and the organizers of the competition.
In a statement, Sueur said he had asked Le Drian “if he could explain the hidden reasons” and whether French terrorist investigators could be allowed by the Saudis to investigate the incident.
In a Friday interview, Le Drian called for a “very clear statement” from Saudi Arabia.
France’s interests have in the past been controlled by “terrorists”, he said.
In October 2020, a security guard at the French embassy in Jeddah was wounded in a knife attack. Two weeks later, two people were wounded in an uprising against a group of foreign diplomats, including French, in commemoration of the first world war.
The final round of this year’s competition is expected to take place on January 14th.
