John Baird headed to Egypt to push for Canadian journalist's release

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is on his way to Egypt, where he is expected to push for the release of imprisoned Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.

A Foreign Affairs news release doesn't mention Fahmy by name, but it does say that Baird will raise "important consular issues" with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo on Thursday.

Baird has previously said Canada has been working hard behind the scenes to win the release of the Al-Jazeera journalist, who will be entering his 13th month in captivity by the time the foreign affairs minister arrives in Egypt.

Baird has met twice recently with his Egyptian counterpart — most recently in Bahrain — and pushed for the release of the 40-year-old Fahmy.

Baird has also said that he met with Egypt's ambassador to Canada in late December to discuss Fahmy's possible release.

Baird told an Ottawa radio station last month that there has been an ongoing diplomatic effort to free Fahmy, who was arrested in December 2013 along with two colleagues, Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed.