Algiers Terror Threatens All Africa Games

By Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
Correspondent | Monday April 16, 2007 00:00

BAAA secretary general Rampha Mosweu over the weekend confirmed the meeting but explained that they had decided to make Botswana's stance on the issue known through the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC).

Botswana sports officials fear the terrorist attacks in Algeria might put our athletes' lives at risk. Botswana expects to send a team of 50 or more to the games.

Recently 33 people were killed and 222 injured in bomb attacks on the prime minister's office and a police station in Algiers.

Al-Jazeera television later said it received a report from a group recently renamed al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, claiming responsibility.

It was previously known as the Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat, according to media reports.

This group first wreaked havoc in Algiers in February when it targeted a number of police stations on the outskirts of the city and last month it bombed a bus carrying Russian workers. 

According to the BBC, six people were killed and 13 injured in seven explosions outside police stations in the eastern Kabylia region in February while 33 Algerian soldiers have been killed this month.

In December,  the group targeted buses in Algiers carrying foreign workers from an affiliate of the American company, Halliburton.

Commenting on these developments, BNSC Sports Development manager Seitshiro Matlala said he has been following the events with keen interest.

'It is frightening. Obviously, taking our children there in the midst of all these troubles would not be a sensible thing to do, but we cannot make any conclusions right now until we have received updates from the organising Committee in Algiers,' he said.

The All Africa Games are organised by the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) of which BNSC chairperson Dorcus Makgato-Malesu is a member.

Asked to say whether SCSA might decide to relocate the games, Malesu said she was also concerned but could only give a definite answer after consulting other SCSA chiefs.
Director of Sports and Recreation (DSR) Falcon Sedimo said the terror attacks had been giving them sleepless night. He said he was hoping to communicate with the SCSA officials about the dangers of taking athletes to a city that for the last four months has been hit by one wave of terror after another.

Fears are mounting that this year's games might be called off, as SCSA might not find an alternative venue because preparations usually take three years.