Canadian diplomats working for UN missing in Niger

Two Canadian diplomats working for the United Nations in Niger have been missing since Sunday night along with the driver of their abandoned vehicle, U.N. officials said Monday.

Officials said a vehicle carrying Robert Fowler, who has been serving as the U.N.'s special envoy to Niger, and Louis Guay, who has been working for the U.N. to assist Fowler, was found abandoned about 30 miles northeast of Niamey, Niger's capital.

Their driver, a Niger local who was not identified, also was missing in the West African nation.

Fowler, who served as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations from 1995 to 2000, and Guay were being driven in a U.N. Development Program vehicle with "UNDP" lettering. All three were considered missing and there was no report of any criminal activity, U.N. officials said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Fowler as U.N. special envoy to Niger in July, said his staff was doing all it could to find out what happened.

"I'm also concerned about that. We are doing all our best efforts about his whereabouts," he said in response to a reporter's question Monday.

The three had been traveling on U.N. business around Niamey, a former French colonial outpost that is now a river port and trading center along the Niger River, according to Ban's office.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon had spoken with senior U.N. officials Monday and was monitoring the situation closely, Canadian officials said.

Lisa Monette, a spokeswoman for Canada's foreign affairs department, confirmed that Fowler and Guay were missing.

"Canadian officials in the capital of Niger and other regional Canadian offices are actively engaged with local and U.N. officials and are pursuing all appropriate measures at this time, and following this situation closely," Monette said.

"Consular officials are in contact with the families to provide assistance and support," she said.

Fowler, 64, served as Canada's ambassador to Italy from 2000 to 2006 and as a foreign policy adviser to three Canadian prime ministers. He also has been a prime minister's personal representative to Africa and was deputy minister of national defense from 1989 to 1995.

He has since worked as a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa's new graduate school of public and international affairs.