Author: Haley Gray
Canadian Ambassador and author of “A Season in Hell: My 130 Days in the Sahara with Al Qaeda” Robert Fowler spoke at the Choi Auditorium Monday. The presentation was a part of the Diplomacy and World Affairs Brown Bag Speaker Series and Fowler talked about his experience being held captive by the Islamist extremist group for 130 days. Fowler was kidnapped while serving as a United Nations (U.N.) special envoy to Niger in 2008.
“The over-arching theme of our trip was fear,” Fowler said in the talk.
The former diplomat discussed everything from the details of the food he was fed, the weight he lost under captivity and his opinion on foreign intervention in the Sahel region of Africa.
Fowler and his colleague Louis Guay were kidnapped and brought along with a cohort of al-Qaeda members, part of a network commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magherib (AQIM). The pair lived an ultimately simple existence under captivity and Fowler kept track of time by marking days passed on a leather belt. His only possession was a spoon, which he lost, and was made to take the rest of his meals in captivity using a Canon lens cap that happened to be in his pocket when he was kidnapped.
Fowler described his captors as a band of men disinterested in sports, women or cars, with no aim more specific than carrying out their warped version of jihad. They had no interest in conversing with the two Canadian men, and all conversations were carried out through the prism of religion, according to Fowler.
To maintain their clarity of mind, the two developed a strict set of rules such as no “what ifs” and no depressing talk after lunch, for example. They would pace around the camp every day, methodically marking their laps to maintain the best level of bodily health they could. Still, Fowler made a habit of checking the rugs around the camp for plastic sheeting, paranoid that given the extreme lack of water, his captors would put down plastic to avoid having to wash the rugs out when they chose to finally commit the messy act of slitting his throat.
After almost five months, Fowler gained his freedom. He was told 700,000 euros were paid for his release, though according to Fowler, he cannot confirm the number nor does he know where the money came from.
In the second part of his talk, Fowler discussed his strong views as to how powerful countries should support Sahel region states in quashing Islamist extremist groups operating in and across their borders. Fowler holds no hope for negotiation with these groups, citing his perception of their absolute hatred for the U.N.
Fowler described the Islamist extremist groups flourishing in the region with concern, invoking the dramatic image of “Darfur multiplied 100 times across the desert.”
“Most of what I am telling you today is based on my experience with 31 guys,” Fowler said in response to a question about where his views about AQIM originated. “The views I am offering you are tempered by everything else I know and have done.”
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