Niamey - Carlos Sousa won the sixth stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday, his second victory of the race, but the Portuguese driver's success was overshadowed by a threat of terrorism as the race entered Niger.
Race organizers said that the seventh stage, due to take place Wednesday between Niamey and Zinder in Niger, would be canceled.
In a statement, they said the French government believes there is "a serious risk of an external terrorist attack" on the famed endurance race while it is in Niger.
"As the safety of all the people on the rally is the absolute priority of the organizers, the rally will not leave from Niamey tomorrow morning," they said in a statement. "The possibility of an air lift to avoid the area considered to be at risk is currently being evaluated."
The next three stages of the race are scheduled to take place in Niger.
In Tuesday's action, competitors drove through forest before moving on to long, arid stretches of terrain and the first signs of desert.
Sousa, driving a Mitsubishi, completed the 683km course between Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso and Niamey, in five hours, 46 minutes, two seconds.
Driving with countryman Joao Manuel Luz he was nearly two minutes ahead of the French pair of Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret, who finished in 5:47.51, with race leaders Kenjiro Shinozuka of Japan and France's Dominique Serieys in third, with a time of 5:49.55.
Shinozuka and Serieys lead the overall standings with a time of 20:25.33, with Jean-Louis Schlesser and Henri Magne in second, six minutes, 15 seconds behind.
In the motorcycle race, France's Richard Sainct won in a time of 6:14.20 to close the gap on leader Juan Roma.
The race, which began last Thursday in Dakar, Senegal, covers some of the most rugged territory in Africa before finishing January 23 in Cairo.
So far, all but seven of the 407 vehicles are still in the race. - Sapa-AP