The 2008 Dakar Rally was cancelled due to security concerns after al-Qaeda's murder of four French tourists on Christmas Eve in December 2007 in Mauritania (a country in which the rally spends eight days), accusations against the rally calling it "neo-colonialist," and accusations against Mauritania calling it a supporter of "crusaders, apostates and infidels".
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as "The Paris-Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris in France to Dakar in Senegal, but due to political instability in Africa, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America, the first time the race took place outside of Europe and Africa. It will return to South America in 2010. The race is open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants.