Staff Reporter
Ottawa remains "committed at the highest levels" to doing everything it can to help a Canadian citizen who was sentenced to life in an Ethiopian jail earlier this week, according to a senior cabinet minister who has been keenly involved in the case.
Canada is assessing its options and looking at a number of ideas to help Bashir Makhtal, John Baird, Minister of Transport, told the Star today in a phone interview. "We do have some specific ideas," he said. "We are looking at three or four options, but we'd rather not talk about it right now."
"We are very committed at the very highest levels to do everything we can," said Baird who has a large Somali population in his home riding in Ottawa. "What we want to do is follow the shortest route from here to get Bashir home."
Makhtal, an ethnic Somali born in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, was convicted last week of being a member of a separatist group, engaging in an armed struggle against the government and aiding and abetting the Islamic Courts Union, a religious alliance that seized control of Somalia before it was topped by the U.S. and Ethiopian forces.
Makhtal, who has always maintained his innocence, was picked up on the border of Somalia and Kenya in December 2006 after fleeing the violence in Mogadishu. He was illegally rendered to Ethiopia and then held incommunicado for 18 months before finally being allowed to see a lawyer and Canadian officials.
He was of interest to Ethiopians because his grandfather was a co-founder of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnic Somali group formed to fight for independence in the oil-rich region.
