I genuinely believe that Mr Baird is honest about brother Makhtal's case but still it is not good enough. He  met the Ethiopian foreign minister who can not make decisions or can not figure out how to bargain their hostage with Canada without consulting with his boss the dictator and how much ransom they should get in return for his release without losing face. In fact the best way Mr Baird can end this fiasco is to ask his prime minister to take the lead and  write a letter to dictator Meles requesting the unconditional release of bro Makhtal or Ethiopia will loose the millions of dollars it receives from Canada. Period. On the other hand if the prisoner in question was white and a christian, things would have been different. He would have been freed in no time and we all know it.