The National Antiterrorist Prosecutor’s Office indicated in a statement that it has opened a preliminary investigation.
The French Justice investigates as a terrorist attack the explosion of last December 30 near Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) that affected an assistance vehicle for the Paris-Dakar rally and injured its pilot, Frenchman Philippe Boutron.
The National Antiterrorist Prosecutor’s Office indicated yesterday, Tuesday, in a statement that it has opened a preliminary investigation for “attempted assassinations in relation to a terrorist organization.”
The affected vehicle was occupied by five other Frenchmen. The investigations are in the hands of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI, the secret services).
The organization of the test, ASO, indicated in a statement collected on Saturday by the newspaper Le Monde that the pilot was injured in the leg and had to undergo surgery in Saudi Arabia.
That same day, the French Foreign Ministry urged its nationals in that country to “maximum vigilance” and hinted that the hypothesis of a criminal act was not ruled out, in addition to recalling that “the terrorist threat persists in Saudi Arabia” .
The Saudi Interior Ministry, for its part, described what happened as an “accident” and did not consider any suspicions about a possible “criminal origin” of the explosion, according to the newspaper. The world on their website.
The rally director, David Castera, had specified on the France 4 chain that the affected car was a support vehicle for the French Sodicars team, and that the explosion occurred at the time the various technical checks were to be carried out before the race. (D)
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