Cape Town — Egypt's military commander-turned-president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is considering pardoning three Al Jazeera staff jailed for nearly a year.

The French public broadcasting channel, FRANCE 24, reports that Sisi told its correspondents in an exclusive interview on Thursday that had he been president at the time of the media workers' arrests, he would not have put them on trial.

"If I were president at that time, I would have decided, for the good and the security of Egypt, that the journalists would have to be expelled," FRANCE 24 reported him as saying.

He added: "Let me just say, this issue is currently under discussion so that we may find a solution."

Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were first detained last December, and then were sentenced in June to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years on charges including broadcasting false news and involvement with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Amnesty International has said that during 12 court sessions, the prosecution in the trial "failed to produce a single shred of solid evidence linking the journalists to a terrorism organization or proving they had 'falsified' news footage".

When the Al Jazeera staff were arrested, Sisi was still head of the armed forces. He played a key role in ousting the Muslim Brotherhood's President Mohamed Mursi, then resigned from the army earlier this year and stood for election in May.