John Baird flew to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa this week, then travelled nearly an hour over the largely barren countryside to meet with a Canadian man who has been convicted of terrorism.
Mr. Baird, the federal Transport Minister, was not able to free Bashir Makhtal. But he did talk face to face with the 31-year-old businessman at the Kaliti Prison, a muddy compound of corrugated iron shacks that is home to many of Ethiopia's political prisoners.
"He was healthy; he has gained some weight. He is in relatively good spirits given the circumstances," Mr. Baird said in a telephone interview yesterday from Tel Aviv. "I updated him on our efforts ... and indicated the government's commitment to continue to press for his release."
Mr. Makhtal is an ethnic Somali from Ethiopia who came to Canada as a refugee in 1991. In 2006, while on a visit to the region to sell used clothes, he was arrested and eventually convicted of taking part in an armed struggle against the Ethiopian government, which earned him a life sentence.
Mr. Baird's 24-hour attempt to end Mr. Makhtal's imprisonment included an hour of negotiations with Seyoum Mesfin, the veteran Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister.
"He is the key interlocutor," Mr. Baird said of Mr. Mesfin. "He is a very smart man, very intelligent, very well-spoken."
He is also the chairman of the board of Ethiopian Airlines. Mr. Baird helped the air carrier obtain landing rights at Toronto's Pearson International Airport starting last month.
"That's obviously something that interested them," Mr. Baird said. "...So we have tried to indicate that friendships are two-way streets."
But, he added, there are no conditions linking the extension of the landing rights to Mr. Makhtal's release or to anything else.
Mr. Baird said he made a formal request, three times, on behalf of the government of Canada that Mr. Makhtal be deported to Canada in return for assurances that he would never go back to Ethiopia.
Mr. Mesfin instead suggested a transfer agreement that would require Mr. Makhtal to serve his sentence in Canada.
"Obviously the key difference is we believe in Bashir's innocence," Mr. Baird said, "and traditionally we don't have any transfer agreement with Ethiopia."
So the situation was left unresolved.
"I am not going to raise expectations that he's going to be out today or tomorrow," Mr. Baird said.
But why would a federal cabinet minister fly halfway around the world to secure the release of a Canadian citizen? There are many Canadians being held in foreign jails. And it was the federal Conservative government that refused for two years to issue travel documents to Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Sudanese-Canadian who was arrested in Sudan on allegations of terrorism.
Mr. Baird said the Canadian group working to free Mr. Makhtar is based in Ottawa, where he is an MP.
"They came to me and presented me with the case and asked for my help," the minister said. "And I have to tell you every single thing they went over with me was proven to be factually correct, which was a big boost to their cause. So I agreed to take it on."
Said Maktal, Mr. Makhtal's cousin who spells his name differently, said he is grateful for Mr. Baird's intervention.
"The fact that the minister is coming back to Canada, knowing that he [Mr. Makhtal]is not coming back with him" is a worry, Mr. Maktal said. "But he is coming back with positive hope."