The UN said on Friday that Robert Fowler, its special envoy to Niger whose disappearance west of the capital Niamey was announced on Monday, was on an official visit.
“Mr Fowler came here as part of an official UN visit but we were not aware of his trip out of town to the Samira gold mine,” said Modibo Traore, head of the local office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Mr Fowler is the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Niger and in that capacity he is responsible for humanitarian problems and for finding a solution to the [Tuareg] rebellion,” he said.
On Dec. 12, the day after his arrival in Niamey, Fowler met with Nigerien Interior Minister Albade Abouba and Nigerien Justice Minister Dagra Mamadou, Traore said.
Traore’s statement echoed that of the spokeswoman of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Fowler — a former Canadian ambassador to the UN — last July.
“I can confirm to you that Mr Fowler, as special envoy for Niger, was on an official mission,” UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said on Thursday at a daily press briefing at UN headquarters in New York.
She refused to say more about his disappearance or his appointment, which Ban had made without an announcement.
In revealing the disappearance and feared kidnapping of Fowler, 64, and another Canadian diplomat, Louis Guay, Nigerien Communications Minister Mohamed ben Omar stated on Tuesday that the UN envoy was not in Niger on official business.
Officially, Niamey has never called on the UN to mediate with Tuareg rebels, whom it normally dismisses as “bandits” and “drug traffickers.”
The Tuareg, who live in the remote northern deserts of Niger, say they are fighting for autonomy and a slice of the uranium wealth that lies beneath the sands of their region.
Ben Omar said Fowler had requested an invitation to attend Niger’s 50th anniversary celebrations on Thursday in Tillaberi, west of Niamey.
Just before his disappearance Fowler visited Samira, a gold mine west of Niamey, majority-owned by two Canadian companies: Etruscan Resources and Semafo Inc.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
‘HARD-HEADED’: Some people did not evacuate to protect their property or because they were skeptical of the warnings, a disaster agency official said Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation. Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island. More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather. Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6. At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. Kim also criticized the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion.
RSS