A friend of a Montreal man facing execution in Saudi Arabia says the Canadian government is not doing enough to help, and that Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day met the wrong people when he was in Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

Mohamed Kohail, 23, was convicted of murder and sentenced on March 3 to a public beheading following a schoolyard brawl in 2007 that left an 18-year-old student dead.

Kohail's younger brother Sultan, 17, was convicted of similar charges for the brawl, and family members fear he also will receive the death penalty at his sentencing in early April.

On Wednesday, Day's department released a statement saying the minister brought up the case while meeting with the head of Saudi Arabia's general intelligence service, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

"I reiterated the Canadian government's position that a review of the decision made by the Saudi judiciary be carried out with a view to ensuring a full and fair hearing," Day said in a statement. "We urge Saudi authorities to overturn the death sentence."

Kohail's friend, Mahmood Al-Ken, said Thursday the meeting was a big disappointment.

"Those people are not on the minister level. We're afraid that Minister Day was snubbed by the Saudis because of their position on this case," Al-Ken said.

Day met wrong person: critic

Liberal Opposition critic Dan McTeague agrees. He said Wednesday that Day should have met with his direct counterpart in Riyadh, rather than his deputy, as well as with the Saudi justice minister, instead of that country's intelligence chief.

"It seems to me that he met the assistant minister, who is not his equivalent," said McTeague.

"Not only did he not meet with his ministerial equivalent, quite apart from that, the person he raised this with has nothing to do with the [Kohail] case."

Al-ken said Canada's recent policy shift concerning citizens sentenced to death abroad could hamper efforts to resolve the case.

In response to the case of an Albertan on death row in Montana, Day said last fall that the federal government would no longer get involved in cases where Canadians were tried in democratic countries that support the rule of law.

Al-Ken said the Saudis are taking that as an indication of Canada's position on Kohail's case.

"It's viewed from a double standard, I believe, and they decoded the message very well, and that was the reply given back to Canada about this case."

Day is in the Middle East as part of a tour that has included Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. He is also scheduled to visit Egypt.