MADRID : The Dakar Rally will return at some stage to the African continent, organisers ASO said on Wednesday.

In a break with tradition, Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 Dakar Rally, a decision taken in the wake of the cancellation of the 2008 edition due to security concerns after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania the month before it was set to start.

"The Dakar will return to Africa, obviously," Patrice Clerc, president of the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) which runs the Dakar Rally, told a press conference.

"I can't tell you when it will return but the rally has its roots in Africa," Clerc added. - AFP/de