Robert Fowler (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Robert R. Fowler is a Canadian diplomat and the special envoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
to Niger
since mid-2008, to find solution to the conflict
in Agadez region.
On 14 December 2008 he was reported missing and was last seen about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the capital Niamey
. Fowler, along with several Westerners, was eventually freed on 21 April 2009.
Fowler has had a long history of public service in Canada, some of it contentious. As a Deputy Minister of National Defence, his tenure was marked by allegations of corruption, for which he earned the nickname "Teflon Bob.".
, Fowler initially attended McGill University
where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society
, then earned a B.A. from Queen's University
in 1968. In 1969, he began his diplomatic career as a Foreign Service Officer in the Department of External Affairs. Throughout the 1970s he held various postings in Ottawa, Paris, and at UN Headquarters in New York.
During his thirty-eight year career in public service, Fowler was the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Ministers Trudeau, Turner
and Mulroney
; Deputy Minister of National Defence; Canada’s longest serving Ambassador to the United Nations. While at the UN, he represented Canada on the Security Council in 1999 and 2000 and issued two ground-breaking reports on sanctions-busting in Angola
, which cut off UNITA
’s access to the arms bazaar and led to the end of the civil war
which had ravaged Angola for 25 years. He was also Ambassador to Italy and the three Rome-based UN food agencies; Sherpa for the Kananaskis G8 Summit (for which he chaired the creation of the Africa Action Plan); and the personal representative for Africa of Prime Ministers Chrétien
, Martin
and Harper
. Robert Fowler retired from the federal public service in the fall of 2006, and is now a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
. Ambassador Fowler is also a member of the Research Steering Committee for the Will to InterveneW2I
Project http://migs.concordia.ca/MembersoftheRSC.htm
During his tenure as Canada's Deputy Minister of National Defence, substantial evidence made available via Access to Information requests revealed that greed and corruption flourished in the Canadian military's highest echelons as part of his stewardship.
In 2000, he was responsible for producing the "Fowler Report
", which led ultimately to the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
In a March 2010 meeting of the Liberal Party
, Fowler was a guest speaker who took the opportunity to condemn the Liberals, saying, "I believe the Liberal party has, to a significant extent, lost its way, at least in policy terms, and of course I mean, in particular, my area of foreign policy terms, and is in danger of losing its soul...To this observer, it seems that Liberals today don't stand for much in the way of principles...I have the impression that they will endorse anything and everything which might return them to power and nothing which won't, whatever the merits of either. It's all about getting to power, and it shows...I believe Liberals seem prepared to embrace an infinite array of special interests in order to shill for votes rather than forging a broad-based principled alliance founded in deep Liberal traditions, one with a distinct social contract
and an independent Canadian character
, which would protect, project and defend core Liberal values at home and abroad..." and on the Conservatives
, he said, "In a short period of time we've established unique credentials in Africa," Fowler said. "I fear, however, that we are in the process of squandering a hard-won and important asset.". Fowler did briefly praise the Harper government, "I owe a debt to Mr. Harper
and I am all too aware that such criticism is a rather churlish way of repaying it....(however) after four consecutive Conservative budgets, it is clear that the current government has failed to live up to its 2006 election promise
to move Canadian aid performance toward the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) average donor spending levels." Fowler stated that both major parties have been enticed by the allure of political gains within the Jewish community. He said it is a strategy that leads to an unproductive support for Israel and undermines Canada's reputation as a trusted mediator in the Middle East. "The scramble to lock up the Jewish vote in Canada meant selling out our widely admired and long-established reputation for fairness and justice," Fowler said.
During an acceptance speech for an honourary doctorate, on October 31, 2010, from the University of Ottawa
, Fowler called out young Canadians for being apathetic and stating that they lose their "bitching rights" and "Your age group's involvement in the political process, at all levels of government, stretches any reasonable definition of apathy
.".
, appointed Fowler to be his Special Envoy to Niger
, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General in the Secretariat of the UN.
While acquitting his UN mission, Mr. Fowler and his colleague, Louis Guay, were captured by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on 14 December 2008, and held hostage in the Sahara Desert for 130 days.
Fowler was reported missing along with another Canadian diplomat, Louis Guay, deputy director of the Sudan task force in Ottawa, and their Niger-based driver, Soumana Moukaila, after their car was found on the evening of 14 December 2008 about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of Niamey
, after visiting the Canadian-owned Samira Hill Gold Mine
. On 16 December, the Front des Forces de Redressement (FFR) claimed on its website that its members kidnapped Fowler and three others, saying that they targeted diplomats who support the Niger government led by President Mamadou Tandja. However, Seydou Maiga Kaocen, speaking for the organization, stated that the "FFR formally denies any involvement in the abduction of Mr. Robert Fowler, UN envoy to Niger. ... We hope that Mr Fowler and his delegation will be released as soon as possible," he followed.
In February 2009, Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb
claimed responsibility Fowler's kidnapping.
In 2003, 32 Europeans were taken hostage in the Sahara in a series of abductions run by El Para, an agent of the Algerian intelligence service, the DRS
. In February 2008 two Austrians were captured in Tunisia and taken via Algeria to Mali and freed later that year. All these kidnappings were attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
the 22nd to meet Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure
before returning to Canada. Mali, Canada, Germany and Switzerland gave no details on the conditions of the negotiated release. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
stated that no ransom had been paid, and thanked the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso
negotiating the release. One of the two remaining, British tourist Edwin Dyer, was killed by his captors in June 2009. The other tourist, Werner Greiner was released a month later.
The governments of Niger
and Mali both involved in a two year long insurgency in the desert north
, as well as Tuareg rebel groups, came under unusual international pressure over the taking of these seven hostages under mysterious circumstances, even prior to the acknowledged involvement of the AQIM. The original two abduction incidents (two Canadian diplomats, their driver, and four European tourists seized weeks later) were blamed by Niger on rebels, and by the MNJ on the Niger government. Western news sources quoted a variety of observers who believed the hostages were taken by Tuareg smugglers, perhaps associated with rebel groups, who then sold them to the AQIM. In May 2009 Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure
agreed, after talks between Mali's defense minister and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
, to a military cooperative agreement to secure the Saharan borders where Tuareg rebels, AQIM militants, as well as smugglers and criminal gangs, operated. Discussions with the governments of Niger and Mauritania were proposed. Under the agreement, states would receive arms from Algeria and engage in joint operations against AQIM and other threats.
. In September 2009 Fowler stated that somebody who knew his itinerary "shopped" him to the militants:
by Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang
in Literary Review of Canada
(January/February 2008 Issue) http://reviewcanada.ca/reviews/2008/01/01/alice-in-afghanistan/.
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
to Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
since mid-2008, to find solution to the conflict
Tuareg Rebellion (2007–present)
The Tuareg Rebellion of 2007-2009 was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is only the most recent of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last...
in Agadez region.
On 14 December 2008 he was reported missing and was last seen about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the capital Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
. Fowler, along with several Westerners, was eventually freed on 21 April 2009.
Fowler has had a long history of public service in Canada, some of it contentious. As a Deputy Minister of National Defence, his tenure was marked by allegations of corruption, for which he earned the nickname "Teflon Bob.".
Career
Born in OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Fowler initially attended McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society
Kappa Alpha Society
The Kappa Alpha Society , founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad...
, then earned a B.A. from Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in 1968. In 1969, he began his diplomatic career as a Foreign Service Officer in the Department of External Affairs. Throughout the 1970s he held various postings in Ottawa, Paris, and at UN Headquarters in New York.
During his thirty-eight year career in public service, Fowler was the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Ministers Trudeau, Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
and Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
; Deputy Minister of National Defence; Canada’s longest serving Ambassador to the United Nations. While at the UN, he represented Canada on the Security Council in 1999 and 2000 and issued two ground-breaking reports on sanctions-busting in Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, which cut off UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
’s access to the arms bazaar and led to the end of the civil war
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
which had ravaged Angola for 25 years. He was also Ambassador to Italy and the three Rome-based UN food agencies; Sherpa for the Kananaskis G8 Summit (for which he chaired the creation of the Africa Action Plan); and the personal representative for Africa of Prime Ministers Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
and Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
. Robert Fowler retired from the federal public service in the fall of 2006, and is now a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
The University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs is a professional public and international policy school in Ottawa, Canada. GSPIA offers a multidisciplinary master’s program focusing on public policy and international affairs...
. Ambassador Fowler is also a member of the Research Steering Committee for the Will to InterveneW2I
W2I
The Will to Intervene Project is a research initiative created by Lieut. General Roméo Dallaire, Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies , and Dr. Frank Chalk, MIGS Director that aims to operationalize the principles of the Responsibility to Protect within...
Project http://migs.concordia.ca/MembersoftheRSC.htm
During his tenure as Canada's Deputy Minister of National Defence, substantial evidence made available via Access to Information requests revealed that greed and corruption flourished in the Canadian military's highest echelons as part of his stewardship.
In 2000, he was responsible for producing the "Fowler Report
Fowler Report
The Fowler Report, released on March 14, 2000, is a United Nations report detailing how various companies, African and European governments, including that of Angola and the political wing of UNITA, violated the Lusaka Protocol as well as UN-imposed sanctions...
", which led ultimately to the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
In a March 2010 meeting of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, Fowler was a guest speaker who took the opportunity to condemn the Liberals, saying, "I believe the Liberal party has, to a significant extent, lost its way, at least in policy terms, and of course I mean, in particular, my area of foreign policy terms, and is in danger of losing its soul...To this observer, it seems that Liberals today don't stand for much in the way of principles...I have the impression that they will endorse anything and everything which might return them to power and nothing which won't, whatever the merits of either. It's all about getting to power, and it shows...I believe Liberals seem prepared to embrace an infinite array of special interests in order to shill for votes rather than forging a broad-based principled alliance founded in deep Liberal traditions, one with a distinct social contract
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
and an independent Canadian character
Canadian identity
Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world....
, which would protect, project and defend core Liberal values at home and abroad..." and on the Conservatives
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
, he said, "In a short period of time we've established unique credentials in Africa," Fowler said. "I fear, however, that we are in the process of squandering a hard-won and important asset.". Fowler did briefly praise the Harper government, "I owe a debt to Mr. Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
and I am all too aware that such criticism is a rather churlish way of repaying it....(however) after four consecutive Conservative budgets, it is clear that the current government has failed to live up to its 2006 election promise
Election promise
An election promise is a promise made to the public by a politician who is trying to win an election. They have long been a central element of elections and remain so today...
to move Canadian aid performance toward the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) average donor spending levels." Fowler stated that both major parties have been enticed by the allure of political gains within the Jewish community. He said it is a strategy that leads to an unproductive support for Israel and undermines Canada's reputation as a trusted mediator in the Middle East. "The scramble to lock up the Jewish vote in Canada meant selling out our widely admired and long-established reputation for fairness and justice," Fowler said.
During an acceptance speech for an honourary doctorate, on October 31, 2010, from the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, Fowler called out young Canadians for being apathetic and stating that they lose their "bitching rights" and "Your age group's involvement in the political process, at all levels of government, stretches any reasonable definition of apathy
Apathy
Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical or physical life.They may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in...
.".
Disappearance
On 21 July 2008, The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
, appointed Fowler to be his Special Envoy to Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General in the Secretariat of the UN.
While acquitting his UN mission, Mr. Fowler and his colleague, Louis Guay, were captured by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on 14 December 2008, and held hostage in the Sahara Desert for 130 days.
Fowler was reported missing along with another Canadian diplomat, Louis Guay, deputy director of the Sudan task force in Ottawa, and their Niger-based driver, Soumana Moukaila, after their car was found on the evening of 14 December 2008 about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
, after visiting the Canadian-owned Samira Hill Gold Mine
Samira Hill Gold Mine
The Samira Hill Gold Mine is a Gold mine in Téra Department of the Tillabéri Region in Niger. Opened in late 2004, it is the first industrial scale gold mine in the nation, and while operated by a Canadian/Moroccan consortia, the government of Niger owns both a 20% stake in its operation, and...
. On 16 December, the Front des Forces de Redressement (FFR) claimed on its website that its members kidnapped Fowler and three others, saying that they targeted diplomats who support the Niger government led by President Mamadou Tandja. However, Seydou Maiga Kaocen, speaking for the organization, stated that the "FFR formally denies any involvement in the abduction of Mr. Robert Fowler, UN envoy to Niger. ... We hope that Mr Fowler and his delegation will be released as soon as possible," he followed.
In February 2009, Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb
The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat is a radical Islamist militia which aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgent campaign.The group...
claimed responsibility Fowler's kidnapping.
In 2003, 32 Europeans were taken hostage in the Sahara in a series of abductions run by El Para, an agent of the Algerian intelligence service, the DRS
Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité
The Department of Intelligence and Security is the Algerian state intelligence service. Its existence dates back to the struggle for independence.-Formation:...
. In February 2008 two Austrians were captured in Tunisia and taken via Algeria to Mali and freed later that year. All these kidnappings were attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
Release
Moukaila was released in March 2009. Fowler, Guay, and two of the four European tourists kidnapped a month later were released on 21 April 2009, following extensive negotiations. German tourist Marianne Petzold and Swiss Gabriella Greitner were released but Greitner's husband and a Briton were held back. Fowler and Guay arrived in Mali's capital BamakoBamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
the 22nd to meet Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...
before returning to Canada. Mali, Canada, Germany and Switzerland gave no details on the conditions of the negotiated release. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
stated that no ransom had been paid, and thanked the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
negotiating the release. One of the two remaining, British tourist Edwin Dyer, was killed by his captors in June 2009. The other tourist, Werner Greiner was released a month later.
The governments of Niger
Government of Niger
The government of Niger is the apparatus through which authority functions and is exercised: the governing apparatus of Nigerien state. The current system of governance, since the Constitution 18 July 1999, is termed the Fifth Republic of Niger. It is a semi-presidential republic, whereby the...
and Mali both involved in a two year long insurgency in the desert north
Tuareg Rebellion (2007–present)
The Tuareg Rebellion of 2007-2009 was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is only the most recent of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last...
, as well as Tuareg rebel groups, came under unusual international pressure over the taking of these seven hostages under mysterious circumstances, even prior to the acknowledged involvement of the AQIM. The original two abduction incidents (two Canadian diplomats, their driver, and four European tourists seized weeks later) were blamed by Niger on rebels, and by the MNJ on the Niger government. Western news sources quoted a variety of observers who believed the hostages were taken by Tuareg smugglers, perhaps associated with rebel groups, who then sold them to the AQIM. In May 2009 Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...
agreed, after talks between Mali's defense minister and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the ninth President of Algeria. He has been in office since 1999. He continued emergency rule until 24 February 2011, and presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002...
, to a military cooperative agreement to secure the Saharan borders where Tuareg rebels, AQIM militants, as well as smugglers and criminal gangs, operated. Discussions with the governments of Niger and Mauritania were proposed. Under the agreement, states would receive arms from Algeria and engage in joint operations against AQIM and other threats.
Who could it be?
The day after his arrival in Niamey in December 2008, Fowler met with Interior Minister Albadé AboubaAlbadé Abouba
Albadé Abouba is a Nigerien politician who has been the Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society since 2009. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2010...
. In September 2009 Fowler stated that somebody who knew his itinerary "shopped" him to the militants:
"Who could it be? It could be the government of NigerGovernment of NigerThe government of Niger is the apparatus through which authority functions and is exercised: the governing apparatus of Nigerien state. The current system of governance, since the Constitution 18 July 1999, is termed the Fifth Republic of Niger. It is a semi-presidential republic, whereby the...
. Could have been an al-Qaeda sympathiser in the UN office in Niger. In the UN office in West Africa. In the secretariat building in New York."
"It was clear from the first time I met him in August that he [Mr Tandja] was offended, annoyed and embarrassed by the fact that the secretary general of the UN [Ban Ki-moon] had seen fit to appoint a special envoy for his country."
On war in Afghanistan
Fowler reviewed the book The Unexpected War: Canada in KandaharKandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
by Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang
Eugene Lang (minister)
Eugene Lang was a former chief of staff to two of Canada’s Liberal ministers of defence from 2002 to 2006. He co-authored with Janice Gross Stein a book The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar...
in Literary Review of Canada
Literary Review of Canada
The Literary Review of Canada is a Canadian magazine that publishes ten times a year. The magazine publishes essays and reviews of books on political, cultural and social topics, as well as Canadian poetry...
(January/February 2008 Issue) http://reviewcanada.ca/reviews/2008/01/01/alice-in-afghanistan/.
See also
- Regions of NigerRegions of Niger||Niger is divided into 7 Regions . Each department's capital is the same as its name.-Current regions:*Agadez Region*Diffa Region*Dosso Region*Maradi Region*Tahoua Region*Tillabéri Region*Zinder Region...
- Ministry of Interior, Public Safety and Decentralization (Niger)Ministry of Interior, Public Safety and Decentralization (Niger)The Ministry of Interior, Public Safety and Decentralization of the Government of Niger is the government authority responsible for policing, internal security and the ongoing process of decentralization of authority to the Regions, Departments, and Communes of Niger. The National Police and...
- Albadé AboubaAlbadé AboubaAlbadé Abouba is a Nigerien politician who has been the Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society since 2009. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2010...
(Minister of the Interior of Niger since March 2007) - Moussa KakaMoussa KakaMoussa Kaka is a Nigerien radio journalist and director of Maradi based station Saraounia FM, as well as a correspondent for France's Radio France International. He has twice been arrested by the government of President Mamadou Tandja over his reporting...
- Movement of Nigeriens for Justice
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173, adopted unanimously on June 12, 1998, after reaffirming Resolution 696 and all subsequent resolutions on Angola, particularly Resolution 1127 , the Council announced its intention to impose further sanctions against UNITA for non-compliance, unless...