Dakar Rally likely to return to Algeria

ALGIERS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Algerian authorities and organizers of the Dakar Rally are discussing the probable return of this famous race to Algeria, said on Sunday President of the Algerian Federation of Motor-sports, Chihab Bahloul.

Bahloul was quoted as saying by TSA news web site that "the Algerian Ministry of Sports met with the rally organizers, and agreed for the return of the legendary motor racing to include Algeria track," adding "such a step would promote the destination Algeria, and contribute in the developing mechanic sport in the country."

However, Bahloul specified that the talks are pending on whether Algerian authorities would respond favorably to the organizer's requests regarding the logistics and financing of the rally, saying "The organizers' request is not within our reach, especially in terms of providing funding and logistics for the organization of the rally."

Yet, Algeria is still open to partially participating in financing the rally, according to Bahloul.

TSA said that last week, a delegation of Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the official organizer of the Paris-Dakar Rally met with Algerian authorities, while a second meeting is due to be held in the forthcoming days to take a final decision on the return of the Dakar Rally to Algeria.

The last time the famous Dakar Rally passed through the Algerian territory was in 1993. The rally used to bear the brand name of Paris-Algiers-Dakar, as it used to kick off from Paris, and then joins Algeria from the port of Algiers, as the racers go to the desert and enter Morocco before going to Mauritania and then reaching the ultimate stop in Senegal's Dakar.

The rally left Algeria due to unstable security situation there in the 90's.

The famous rally was relocated to South America in 2009 because of terrorist threats in the African Sahel region. Enditem