Communiqué de presse

Réaction de SEM Nana Aicha Foumakoye, Ambassadeur du Niger au Canada aux allégations de Mr Fowler sur son enlèvement par Al Qaeda

Nous avons suivi avec beaucoup d’attention l’interview exclusive accordée au réseau CBC TV-Radio, par Monsieur Robert Fowler, ancien diplomate canadien, alors Envoyé Spécial du Secrétaire Général de l’ONU au Niger

Tout d’abord, nous tenons à réitérer toute notre désolation et notre tristesse pour ce qui est arrivé à Messieurs Robert Fowler et Louis Guay, lors de leur mission au Niger en décembre 2008 et à exprimer à l’ensemble de leur famille nos sentiments de compassion. Lors du fâcheux évènement, mon gouvernement y avait compati et aussitôt informé de la situation, il avait déployé les forces de l’ordre et de sécurité pour des recherches fouillées, en vue de retrouver les deux canadiens. À ce propos, la collaboration n’a pas failli du tout, la GRC et des représentants des Nations-Unies/PNUD Niger étaient aux côtés des institutions nigériennes pour retrouver les disparus.

Tout en nous réjouissant de l’issue heureuse de ce drame, nous tenons une fois de plus, à féliciter les intéressés qui ont regagné leurs familles respectives sains et saufs, après cette malheureuse épreuve.

Cependant, au nom du gouvernement du Niger, nous nous faisons le devoir de réagir aux propos déplorables　de Mr Fowler qui accusait mon gouvernement de complicité avec une branche du mouvement terroriste d’Al-Qaeda (Maghreb) dans son enlèvement. Nous en sommes terriblement choqués, voire scandalisés. Comment imaginer un tel scénario　 ?

Comme toujours, Monsieur Fowler et Monsieur Guay ont été très bien accueillis au Niger, ils avaient des audiences avec les responsables du pays, au plus haut niveau et ils ont mené leur mission dans les meilleures conditions possibles.

En effet, pour toute la durée de leur séjour, le protocole et la sécurité requise n’ont jamais failli, l’intéressé peut le confirmer ou l’infirmer. Mais le jour-la, Monsieur Fowler a, de son propre chef, décliné les services de l’agent du protocole mis à sa disposition, pour se rendre dans la zone minière de Téra où la société canadienne Semafo exploite de l’or, sans même en avertir les Autorités.

Pourtant, la veille de l’évènement, lors de sa rencontre avec le Ministre de la Défense Nationale, ce dernier lui avait intimé d’informer de ses moindres déplacements pour le besoin de sa sécurité, ce à quoi il avait rétorqué n’avoir aucun déplacement privé en vue. Pourquoi donc, ne voulait-il pas informer de ce déplacement, fût-il privé　 ? Comment, dans ces conditions accuser de complicité le gouvernement à qui il n’en avait soufflé mot ? Par qui d’autre l’aurait-il su si lui-même n’avait pas daigné le faire savoir, pour l’on ne sait quelle raison ?

Par ailleurs, Mr Fowler avait avancé que le Gouvernement du Niger haïssait sa mission. Il est inimaginable qu’il ait pensé à une quelconque connivence du Niger avec Al Qaeda pour l’enlever mais aussi de croire que le Gouvernement du Niger serait contre sa mission, une mission voulue et acceptée en toute souveraineté par le Président de la République qui y croyait et y avait foi. Il n’y était pas contraint, il pouvait refuser, s’il n’en voulait pas.

En ce qui concerne la question du Nord, s’agissant des ressources minières dont il faisait allusion, je voudrais souligner que le gouvernement n’a pas attendu une quelconque pression extérieure pour prendre les mesures requises aux fins d’en faire davantage profiter les populations des localités concernées par l’extraction minière d’une manière générale.

En effet, le Niger a adopté en août 2006 une loi minière qui engageait le gouvernement nigérien à rétrocéder une part de 15% aux populations des communes concernées par l’exploitation minière. À ce titre, en 2007 et 2008, les fonds requis ont été mis à la disposition des Conseils locaux des communes des régions concernées, en l’occurrence, Agadès pour l’uranium et Tillabéry pour l’or, en vue de la mise en œuvre de leurs programmes de développement respectifs.

Les Autorités nigériennes se sont également engagées, depuis 2005, dans le processus mondial pour la Transparence dans les Industries Extractives (ITIE), proposée en 2002 par le Premier Ministre britannique, Tony Blair, au Sommet Mondial sur le Développement Durable.

En plus de ces mesures très salutaires mises effectivement en œuvre et vérifiables, le gouvernement a toujours encouragé les sociétés à investir directement dans les régions concernées.

En 2007 par exemple, Areva a investi plus de 300 millions $ pour le seul département d’Arlit pour des actions de développement (infrastructures sociales　 : écoles, dispensaires, points d’eau…)

Du reste, je dirai pour conclure, qu’il serait dommage que ce triste drame déploré par tous les nigériens ainsi que ces accusations non fondées entachent l’excellence des relations combien exemplaires qui existent de si longue date entre le Canada et mon pays le Niger d’une part et de l’autre, entre les citoyens de nos deux pays, des relations que nous voulons plus fortes et durables.

J’ose espérer que le diplomate canadien aura de la hauteur de reconnaître la gravité de ses propos et présenter des excuses au gouvernement du Niger

L’Ambassadeur, Nana Aïcha Foumakoye
 Document d’origine

Niger demands apology from Fowler The African country’s ambassador denies her government sold the UN envoy out

Niger’s ambassador is demanding an apology from Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler following comments last week that someone in the African nation’s government may have sold him out to al-Qaeda.

In an interview with Embassy, Ambassador Nana Foumakoye said she was "disagreeably surprised" by the very serious insinuations Mr. Fowler made during a high-profile interview with CBC.

"This allegation by Mr. Fowler about the government of Niger, when he insinuated my government could be those who were complicit with a branch of al-Qaeda to reveal the circuit of his travels....is impossible," the ambassador said in French. "I hope he will recognize that and present his excuses to the people of Niger and to its government.

"How could he have thought of such connivance between al-Qaeda and the government of Niger ?"

Mr. Fowler and fellow Canadian diplomat Louis Guay were sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the central African nation in December. Their mission was to broker a peace deal between the government of Niger and a rebel movement fighting for, among other things, greater control of natural resource and mining revenues.

The two Canadians, along with their driver, were abducted on Dec. 14 while returning from a Canadian-operated gold mine. They were held by members of al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb for 130 days, and were transplanted to Mali before being released on April 21.

Last week’s interview was the first time he has spoke publicly about his captivity, and during the interview, Mr. Fowler said he was sure somebody alerted his kidnappers of his whereabouts the day he and Mr. Guay were abducted. He named the government of Niger among his list of suspects.

"Who could it be ?" he said. "It could be the government of Niger. Could be an al-Qaeda sympathizer in the UN office in Niger. In the UN office in West Africa. In the secretariat building in New York. All of them had my agenda, my itinerary."

Mr. Fowler said he had passed his itinerary along to the UN, and had confirmed that it had been passed on "to all the appropriate people." Last week, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN prevented the widespread dissemination of details of Mr. Fowler’s travels, and that they were not "fully appraised" of his travel plans the day of the abduction.

Ms. Foumakoye said Niger’s minister of defence had formally requested that Mr. Fowler keep the government abreast of his travels so the host government could assure his security. She said, however, that on the day of his abduction, her government was unaware of Mr. Fowler’s location because he failed to inform them as instructed. As such, she said it was impossible elements of her government could have leaked the diplomats’ whereabouts.

"No one in the government was informed of his travels," she said. "So how could the government of Niger, which was not informed about his travels, could have known what was his itinerary was and, possibly, telling a branch of Al-Qaeda ?"

Friday, Mr. Fowler released a statement that read : "I stand by what I said. It could have been anyone who had my itinerary."

Mission ’hated’ by authorities

During his interview, Mr. Fowler said the government of Niger "hated my mission," and that President Tandja Mamadou was "offended, annoyed, embarrassed by the fact that the secretary general of the UN had seen fit to appoint a special envoy for his country."

Ms. Foumakoye denied her government was hostile to Mr. Fowler, saying Niger could have taken a decision, as a sovereign country, not to accept his mission at all.

"It was a mission that was wanted... because Niger is a country committed to peace," she said.

As for the mineral resources, Ms. Foumakoye said there is no need for further resource wealth distribution. She said 15 per cent of resource revenues are currently spent in the regions they are harvested from.

While many Canadian mining firms are invested in Niger, official support from the Canadian government has dropped off sharply. Earlier this year, when CIDA pared down its list of bilateral aid recipients, Niger was one of those countries dropped from the list.

Ms. Foumakoye said her government "deplored" Canada’s "very severe restrictions" on aid to her country. While saying it was Canada’s decision to make, she lamented Canada’s withdrawal from the African continent, especially in the field of capacity building.

Canada is not alone is turning away from Niger. In recent months, Niger’s neighbours have become increasingly alarmed at President Tandja’s attempts to hold onto power. He has dissolved the parliament, imprisoned political rivals and attempted to hold a referendum to create a "sixth republic" that would abolish presidential term limits.

In defence of her president, Ms. Foumakoye assured Embassy the parliament would soon sit again, that the imprisoned MPs were being investigated for suspicious budget management, and that "no democracy, in whatever country, is perfect." - By Jeff Davis - jdavis@embassymag.ca - September 16, 2009

Kidnapped envoy Fowler suggests captors were tipped off

UNITED NATIONS — A Canadian United Nations envoy who ended up in al-Qaeda hands after militants snatched him in Niger has raised a storm by suggesting a UN employee or the Niger government betrayed him. Robert Fowler said emphatically in a CBC interview aired Tuesday that someone leaked information of the route he, his Canadian aide Louis Guay, and their locally hired driver took Dec. 14, when the kidnappers struck.

He was less emphatic about the source of the leak, but names possible culprits.

"I know somebody shopped me," he declared. "Who could it be ? It could be the government of Niger. Could be an al-Qaeda sympathizer in the UN office in Niger, in the UN office in West Africa, in the ... secretariat building in New York."

The statement, released by the CBC on its website in advance of the interview’s broadcast, drew sharp reaction from both the Niger government and the UN.

Nana Aicha Foumakoye, Niger’s ambassador to Canada, called Mr. Fowler’s statement a "false allegation" and said she was "disappointed" he had said such a thing.

She also recalled her government’s claim just after the kidnapping that Mr. Fowler had failed to notify officials of the trip he and Guay made that day, and had left without the minder the Niger government had provided.

"So how could anyone in the government inform anyone else of their whereabouts ?" she said in an interview with Canwest News Service.

At UN headquarters in New York, spokesman Farhan Haq signalled Mr. Fowler should produce any evidence suggesting the UN was involved.

"We have no information to indicate a leak from our side," he said. "If anyone has any information, we would appreciate that they share it with us, so that we can look into it thoroughly."

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon named Mr. Fowler special envoy to Niger in July, 2008, to seek ways to bring peace between the country’s government and its northern Tuareg nomads, who claimed they weren’t getting their fair share of revenues from regional uranium mining. The UN made the pick based on Mr. Fowler’s extensive experience in African affairs as a Canadian diplomat, but did not publicize the mission because Niger had not been keen on it.

"They hated my mission," Mr. Fowler declared in the CBC interview.

Mr. Fowler picked Guay, a Foreign Affairs Department veteran, to help him. They and their driver, Soumana Mounkaila, had been returning from a visit to a Canadian-run gold mine in the west of the country when the kidnappers struck.

As if to reinforce there had been a leak of information, Mr. Fowler signalled in the CBC interview the kidnappers appeared to know his identity and potential worth.

"They were unsurprised," he said. "I think I’m probably the most senior UN creature that they have seized."

Though snatched in Niger, the trio was later transferred by their captors to neighbouring Mali, where it is believed members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the North African branch of the terrorist group, came to hold them. While Mr. Mounkaila was released ahead of the Canadians, Mr. Fowler and Guay were freed towards the end of April.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said no deal had been struck between the Canadian government and the terrorists, but Canwest News Service reported that AQIM’s demand for the release of four of their operatives held regionally had been met. Source : Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service - Tuesday, September 08, 2009