(AFP Photo)
Interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy discussed the Syrian crisis, among other issues, with his Canadian counterpart on Thursday.
Fahmy and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird discussed bilateral ties and ways of developing them. They also discussed regional issues including developments in Syria after the Geneva II conference held to find a political solution to Syria’s conflict.
The two foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the annual Davos World Economic Forum, which runs from 22 to 25 January, in Switzerland.
In September, Canada’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lynne Yelich expressed “disappointment” at the continued detention of two Canadian nationals, Tarek Loubani and John Greyson in Egypt.
The two Canadians reported that they were “arrested, searched, caged, questioned, interrogated, videotaped with a ‘Syrian terrorist’, slapped, beaten, ridiculed, hot-boxed, refused phone calls, stripped, shaved bald [and] accused of being foreign mercenaries”.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said the prosecutor general’s office strongly denies claims of torture, beating or mistreatment, in a statement in October.
Eventually, after spending 50 days in Tora Prison without formal charges, the Canadians were released and allowed to leave the country.
Global leaders and businessmen flock to the Davos World Economic Forum every year, discussing global issues ranging from politics and the economy to technology. Egypt’s Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi discussed Egypt’s political transition at a seminar held as part of the forum on Thursday.
