CAIRO—Foreign Minister John Baird gave no indication of any new developments in efforts to secure the release of a Canadian journalist who has been imprisoned for more than a year on terrorism charges, after talks in Cairo on Thursday morning.

“I wasn’t naive to suggest that I would come and the situation would be resolved,” Baird said at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Baird said he had a “very long and in-depth discussion” with his counterpart — which he characterized as “constructive and fruitful” — about Mohamed Fahmy’s case.

The meeting with Shoukry lasted for about half an hour and some 20 minutes of it was devoted to Fahmy, an official told the Star’s Bruce Campion-Smith.

It’s expected that Baird will meet with Shoukry again at the upcoming World Economic Forum meeting next week in Switzerland. He may also meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at that event.

Baird’s visit comes two weeks after Egypt’s highest appeals court granted a retrial for Fahmy and his two colleagues at Al Jazeera English, Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed. The three journalists were sentenced by a criminal court in June to between seven and 10 years in prison on terrorism-related charges. The case sparked worldwide condemnation and was dismissed by trial observers as a sham.

The three remain in custody and a date for retrial has not been set.

In a statement provided to his lawyers, Amal Clooney and Lorne Waldman, Fahmy criticized the Canadian government following Baird’s visit.

“I understand that the ability of the Canadian government to help me is limited by the rules of diplomacy. But I do believe that Prime Minister Harper could do more to obtain my release if he were to directly intervene in our case,” he wrote. “Rest assured there will be other Canadians who will suffer like me as long as there is such injustice in this region.”

Fahmy’s lawyers also expressed their disappointment “that nothing more concrete was announced after the meeting.”

The families of both Fahmy and Greste have submitted official requests to Egyptian authorities for deportation in the hopes of benefitting from a decree that Sissi issued in November that allows him to deport foreigners convicted of crimes to their home countries. Sissi has said in the past that he wished the journalists had been deported and not tried.

Baird would not elaborate on whether the Canadian government was pushing for deportation proceedings. “We want to see Mr. Fahmy returned home as expeditiously as possible, whether it’s deportation, a pardon or whether it’s through a retrial,” he said after a meeting with Fahmy’s family members Thursday afternoon.

Fahmy’s fiancée, Marwa Omara, said she had hoped for more to come out of Baird’s trip to Egypt. “I had very high expectations that Mohamed might be released during the Canadian foreign minister’s visit, but I understand it’s a big case and it will take some time,” she said.

Omara, who visited with Fahmy the day before, said he was anxious and unable to sleep. “It’s so unfair he is still in prison. He’s suffering, he’s in pain,” she said, fighting back tears. “I hope Abdel Fattah el-Sissi can be more sympathetic with us and let Mohamed out.”

Under the text of the decree, Sissi can deport foreigners to be tried or serve their sentence in their home countries. Baird ruled out any possibility of Canadian authorities putting Fahmy on trial should he be deported. “That would not be an option which would be acceptable to Canada, nor was it discussed,” he said.

Baird went on to voice strong support for the Sissi government and lauded Egyptian-Canadian ties, calling Fahmy’s case “the only major irritant in our bilateral relationship.”

Sissi’s government has come under heavy criticism from international human rights groups for locking up thousands of other protesters, activists, dissidents, journalists and members of the gay community.

Baird instead applauded Sissi’s efforts to confront “the terrorist acts of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Following the July 2013 military ouster of the elected president — and leading Muslim Brotherhood member — Mohammed Morsi, Egyptian authorities launched a brutal crackdown on the Islamist group. Hundreds of Morsi supporters were killed and thousands imprisoned.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I personally reaffirm Canada’s strong support for the new government of Egypt and its transition to democracy and the inclusion of human rights and rule of law,” Baird said. He also announced a $2-million contribution to Egypt for counterterrorism and border security effort, as well as increased police collaboration between the two countries.

In addition, Baird announced Canada would be providing Egypt with $10.8 million for vocational training programs and $20 million for the education of Syrian refugees and Egyptians students.

The two-day visit to Egypt was Baird’s second in less than a year.

Read more about: