Luanda (Reuters) - The biggest tournament in African football begins in Angola on Sunday, overshadowed by a rebel separatist ambush on Togo's team bus which left three people dead and seven injured. Togo said it was pulling its team out of the Africa Cup. However, a team member was quoted as saying the players were determined not to "run away like cowards" and lined up Monday for their first Group B match.
Angola has spent $1 billion building stadiums, roads, and hotels for the competition, which brings together Africa's best national teams. The bi-annual tournament, running until January 31, will be broadcast live worldwide.
The African Nations Cup was due to start with fireworks and champagne in a huge stadium in the capital Luanda, where the hosts were set to play Mali in the opening match following Sunday's attack. But Friday's attack on the Togo team in the northern enclave of Cabinda, staged by a group of rebels that the government had recently said no longer existed, cast a shadow over an event intended to show Angola was at peace after years of civil war.
Rebels from the Cabindan separatist group FLEC sprayed Togo's bus with gunfire, killing the driver and injuring nine others. Two members of Togo's football delegation died Saturday, and one underwent surgery in southern Africa. A minister said the government was pulling the team from the tournament due to "this dramatic situation." However, French sports daily L'Equipe cited Togo midfielder Alainxys Romao as saying the team had unanimously decided to stay in the tournament. "We've just had a meeting of the entire delegation and we will be on the pitch to face Ghana on Monday," said Romao, who plays for French club Grenoble. "People have died for the Africa Cup, others have been injured. We can't let them down and leave like cowards," said Romao. "Our government isn't necessarily in agreement with us, but we're all determined to play this competition." Team officials and the Confederation of African Football were not immediately available for comment.
English Premier League club Manchester City said on its website that its star striker Emmanuel Adebayor, captain of Togo, was returning home analysts. Security experts said the ambush showed how easily insurgents could grab world headlines with attacks on soft targets and embarrass countries by exposing decades of security lapses. Togolese officials named the dead as press officer Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Abalo Amalete, and said reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale had been evacuated to Johannesburg where he underwent surgery.
Cabinda, the scene of the FLEC attack even after Angola's 27-year civil war ended in 2002, provides half of Angola's oil production, which rivals Nigeria's as the largest producer. It has been the second militant attack on a sports team in less than a year. In March, six policemen and a driver were killed when armed men attacked a bus carrying Sri Lanka's cricket team in Pakistan.
Friday's incident raised questions about security for the World Cup currently ongoing in South Africa in June, but organizers of that event dismissed any comparison. South Africa is the first African nation to host the world's biggest single-sport event. Chief World Cup organizer Danny Jordaan said the attack would have no impact on the World Cup. "It's absurd for South Africa to be tainted with what happens in Angola, which isn't even one of our neighboring countries," he said.
Former Togo coach Otto Pfister disagreed. "This is a real blow for Africa. It will obviously be directly linked to the World Cup," said German sports news analyst Sid Security Agency. Security experts said it was unlikely that foreigners participating in the World Cup would ignore the Angolan attack and wished to review South Africa's security preparations. South African President Jacob Zuma will attend Sunday's opening ceremony despite the attack, his spokesman said.
Cabinda, wedged between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, was due to host seven matches. (Additional reporting by Julien Pretot in Cabinda, Kwasi Kpodo in Accra, Mark John in Dakar, registered by Marius Bosch and David Stamp; Editing by Alex Richardson.)