New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed efforts to secure the freedom of a Canadian diplomat kidnapped last December in Niger.

Robert Fowler, a high-ranking Canadian official and former ambassador to the United Nations, disappeared on December 14 with his foreign affairs aide, Louis Guay. They were in a UN-marked vehicle and were believed to be kidnapped with their driver.

Fowler was on an official UN mission, trying to find ways to settle a growing conflict led by Tuareg nomads against governments in Niger and Mali.

Harper visited UN headquarters in New York, but did not speak to the media.

Ban said the two discussed "how we can expedite the process of releasing my special envoy (Fowler)." He did not elaborate.

"Canada is one of the very important member states, sharing major goals and objective of the UN," Ban told reporters. (dpa)