Egypt's Fahmy Dilemma

"Our government has for some time now been in contact with Egyptian authorities at all levels, including my level."
"We will continue to press for his release and we do remain optimistic this case will be resolved."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

According to Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news media giant that employed Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy as their station chief in Cairo, his impending release on bail awaiting re-trial in a week's time, represented "a small step in the right direction", but in their opinion the court should dismiss "this absurd case", to release both remaining journalists, Fahmy and Baher Mohammed, an Egyptian citizen.

Al Jazeera is a creature of Qatar, a country that supports the Muslim Brotherhood, and which has been sharply critical of Egypt for having unseated Mohammad Morsi of the Brotherhood from the presidency of the most populous Arab country in the world. Al Jazeera's slant on the news takes several different forms; for their English-speaking audience Al Jazeera English presents the views that would be palatable to the West.

For their Arabic-speaking audience Al Jazeera reflects the politics of its founding state, Qatar. Egypt felt that the news coverage during a critical time in Cairo presented by Al Jazeera through its Cairo station employees was harmful to Egypt, and decided to arrest those employees. Egypt is not, after all, a country where freedom of the press and freedom of speech is celebrated, nor is any other country in the geography save for that of Israel.

Qatar is known well enough for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Hamas. And since Egypt has declared both to be terrorist groups and outlawed in the country, any news source that appeared sympathetic to them could be guaranteed to have harsh treatment in response. And Mr. Fahmy, as an employee along with Australian Peter Grest, freed a week ago, and Baher Mohammed presented as targets to vent Cairo's anger at Qatar.

Al Jazeera, now complains Mr. Fahmy who was released on bail suddenly Friday, could at least have paid his $41,000 bail, since it was on their behalf he had spent over a year imprisoned in Cairo. And then he turned his venom on Canada, snarling that former Foreign Affairs Minister who had travelled to Cairo to speak with his counterpart there on behalf of Mr. Fahmy, hadn't played his cards right.

Mr. Fahmy's outspoken fiancee and his brother were fairly effusive in their contempt for what they claim were Canada's feeble efforts to have Mr. Fahmy released. If Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi himself felt regret over the entire affair of the imprisonment and charges of aiding terrorism levelled against the three Al Jazeera employees and was unable to do much to move Egypt's courts on their behalf, it is the courts that will decide.

The Court of Cassation now feels their conviction had been based on "flawed evidence", the trial marred by violations of the defendants' rights. Mr. Fahmy doesn't quite know what he wants; he wanted to retain his Egyptian citizenship as a loyal Egyptian on the one hand, acceding to the advice to abandon it to hasten his release. Now, with only Canadian citizenship, in a tight place in Egypt, he assaults the Government of Canada for his predicament.