Montreal Gazette - Former Canadian diplomat Fowler speaks about being kidnapped by al-Qaida
Sleeping and eating with al-Qaida fighters in the Sahara desert was not on Robert Fowler's agenda when the distinguished Canadian diplomat arrived in Niger in 2008 on a low-key United Nations mission. Fowler had been sent to the West African country as a special UN envoy when he and fellow diplomat Louis Guay were kidnapped by al-Qaida and held captive for 130 days.
Fowler feared he would suffer the same fate as Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was decapitated after being kidnapped by an al-Qaida cell in Pakistan in 2002. His brutal execution was posted on the Internet.
"I thought there was a strong possibility that my life would end in a tent with a knife at my throat and that my family would be able to watch it all on YouTube," Fowler told students at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ on Tuesday. The retired diplomat was in Montreal to promote his recently published book, A Season in Hell: My 130 days in the Sahara with al-Qaida.
