TORONTO - The U.S. State Department expressed its "grave concern" about the disappearance of two Canadian diplomats in Niger on Thursday, while a Montreal-based company confirmed the pair visited its gold mine before they disappeared.
UN special envoy Robert Fowler, his Canadian assistant Louis Guay and their driver have been missing since Sunday.
In a statement, the State Department offered "the Canadian and Niger governments and the United Nations secretary general its full support towards finding Mr. Fowler and his colleagues."
On Thursday, a rebel group in Niger posted a statement on its website, denying for a second time it had anything to do with the kidnapping.
The group, Front des forces de redressement, claimed the kidnapping was the result of a security breach.
The group had originally claimed its members abducted the two diplomats late Sunday but later reversed its position.
The group said it does not take hostages and expressed hope Fowler and his associates are released as soon as possible.
The group also accused authorities in Niger of failing to protect Fowler and his group, who disappeared while on a UN aid mission.
The group says authorities have reports of a car registered in neighbouring Togo that allegedly followed the diplomats' vehicle from Niger's capital Niamey.
"Our priority right now is to work with the UN and Niger authorities to ascertain both Mr. Fowler's whereabouts and Louis Guay's whereabouts and their welfare," Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Monette said from Ottawa.
A spokesman for Montreal-based Semafo Inc. confirmed reports Fowler and Guay visited their Samira Hill gold mine, about 125 kilometres from Niamey and left hours before they disappeared, the Globe and Mail reported on its website Thursday.
Semafo's communications director, Jean-Paul Blais, said it is common for Canadian dignitaries to visit the large mining site if they're in Niger but there was no indication the trip to a mine, in a secure area, had anything to do with their UN mission.
"It was like a protocol visit. And it was treated like that by us."
He said officials from the Canadian Embassy called the mine to arrange for the two diplomats to visit the gold mine and were told they needed approval from the company's head office in Montreal -- but the pair showed up at the mine Sunday morning.
"They had lunch with the employees, they visited the site and they left at 3:30," Mr. Blais said.
He said it takes about 21/2 hours to drive from the mine to Niamey.
Fowler, 64, was a senior adviser to several prime ministers, including Pierre Trudeau, John Turner and Brian Mulroney, and served as an ambassador to the UN. He also played a leading role in thwarting the trade of so-called blood diamonds in Angola.
There is speculation Fowler may have been abducted as part of a complex conflict involving the government of Niger, rebel groups and international mining companies.
Mainly nomadic rebel groups want to overthrow the country's democratically elected government because they say mining companies are ravaging their traditional land, and they're not receiving fair royalties.
