Stephen Harper reaches out to Egypt over Mohamed Fahmy

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said Tuesday he has sent letters toEgyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about jailedCanadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, although his office would not offer details about the timing of the correspondence.

The Egyptian government hasannounced a retrial for Fahmy,who is accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood political party and fabricating footage,starting Thursday.

Fahmy'sfamily responded to the apparent change of position bystarting an online campaign on Monday, #HarperCallEgypt, to try and push the prime minister to urgently lobby for his release.

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Former foreign affairs minister John Baird said on Feb. 2 that he had talked with his Egyptian counterpart and had been told Fahmy's deportation to Canadawas "imminent," but days passed without his release. Egypt made the announcement of a retrial on Sunday.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said Harper has "communicated" with el-Sisi on the matter, later clarifying that he had sentletters.

The Prime Minister's Officesaid ministers and officials continue to raise Fahmy's case with the Egyptian government, but wouldn't share any other details, including when the letters were sent.

Fahmy, 40, was arrested in December 2013 with two of his Al-Jazeera colleagues and sentenced to seven years in prison after a much-criticized trial.

One of them, Australian Peter Greste, was freed earlier this month under a new Egyptian law that allowsel-Sisi to deport foreigners either accused or convicted of crimes.

Fahmy has given up the Egyptian part of his dual citizenship in hopes of following Greste out of the country, but his family said news of the retrial has lowered their hopes that will happen.

His lawyer, Amal Clooney, has requested a meeting with el-Sisi or his officials "as soon as possible" to talk about why he is being retried instead of being released.