Egypt President May Pardon Jailed Journalists

Egypt is considering whether to grant presidential pardons to two Al Jazeera journalists serving seven-year jail terms each.

President Abdel Fattah al Sisi confirmed that Australian Peter Greste and Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy would be released if it was "appropriate for Egyptian national security".

The pair, along with Egyptian Mohamed Baher, were found guilty of supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, and convicted of spreading false information .

Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based media network, has maintained that the allegations against their journalists are "absurd", and have persisted with a Twitter campaign to demand their immediate release.

Meanwhile, human rights groups branded the trial a sham and Western governments condemned the verdict.

Mr Sisi raised the prospect of their release in an interview with France 24 Arabic.

The President has repeatedly mentioned how the journalists should have been deported rather than prosecuted.

The release of Mohamed Baher is considered less likely because he is an Egyptian citizen.

Last week, Mr Sisi signed a decree which allows foreigners in Egyptian prisons to be extradited.

The three journalists already have an appeal of their convictions scheduled for 1 January.