A Canadian diplomat who is working in Niger for the United Nations has gone missing together with two other people, Canadian media reported on Monday.

Sixty-four-year-old Robert Fowler, one of his aides and a driver were found missing late Sunday evening near Niamey, the capital of Niger, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told Canadian Television.

Niger residents found an abandoned United Nations Development Program car about 40 kilometers outside of Niamey, which was supposed to be transporting the three people.

Haq said authorities in Niger are trying to determine what has happened.

Fowler was appointed as a UN special envoy to Niger last July.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2008)