Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Monday said he is in talks with his Egyptian counterpart and is hopeful Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy will be released from prison soon, the QMI news agency reported.

A security official said Fahmy will be freed from Cairo’s Tora prison in days.

Fahmy is one of three Al-Jazeera journalists who were jailed by Egypt over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the military overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi.

Egyptian authorities accused the three of providing a platform for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization.

The three were seen as having been caught up in a regional power struggle between Egypt and Qatar, which funds Al-Jazeera and had been a strong backer of Morsi. 

Egypt has accused Al-Jazeera in general, and its Egypt affiliate, Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, in particular, of doing Doha’s bidding by serving as Islamists’ mouthpiece at a time of a ferocious crackdown on their ranks.

The station denies any bias, saying it is simply covering Islamist protests, but recently shut down its Egypt channel as Qatar and Egypt attempt to rebuild their ties.

Hopes were renewed for Fahmy’s release after his colleague, Australian Peter Greste, was freed on Sunday.

Baird met with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, last month to push for Fahmy’s release, noted QMI.

Meanwhile, Fahmy’s mother wrote an open letter to Egypt’s president pleading for her son’s freedom. Wafa Abdel Hamid Bassiouni said it hurts her to see his health deteriorating while she has little access to him.

The family has said Fahmy requires urgent medical care.