Source: Toronto sun
Last Updated: January 20, 2011
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has to personally ask for the release of a Canadian citizen who's been held in Ethiopia for four years, the man's supporters said Thursday.
Bashir Makhtal was arrested in 2006. He was crossing the Kenyan border from Somalia and sent to Ethiopia to face terrorism charges. His family, however, says he's being persecuted because of his grandfather's political ties to an Ethiopian separatist group, the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
Makhtal's serving a life sentence, but has strong support within the Canadian government.
House Leader John Baird and Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai have met with Ethiopian government officials, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, on Makhtal's behalf.
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