OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada has not received a ransom demand for two Canadian diplomats missing in Niger since mid-December, and continues to probe their mysterious disappearance, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Wednesday.
"We're very much concerned about it," Cannon said of the December 14 disappearance of the UN envoy to Niger Robert Fowler and his assistant Louis Guay.
The men, along with their driver, who also is missing, were returning from a visit the previous day to a gold mine operated by Canadian company Semafo, west of Niamey. A Tuareg rebel group initially said it had kidnapped the men, before retracting the claim the same day.
"We haven't had any ransom demands," Cannon said.
The men's car was discovered beside a road in an apparently trouble-free area close to the Niger capital Niamey. The vehicle's engine was running, its turn signals flashing, and its doors were wide open. Three mobile phones, a camera and a jacket were found inside.
Ottawa's top diplomat said Canadian officials are "on the ground" working with local officials to try to solve the mystery and find missing men.
"We'll be looking at every option, and we'll be looking at every hypothesis that's being put forward," he said.
Cannon said he also has spoken twice to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the case.
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