EGYPT’S Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador John Casson for a rebuke yesterday after he condemned jail terms handed down to three al-Jazeera journalists on Saturday.

Canadian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian national Baher Mohammed were given three years each for reporting “false news.”

The long-running prosecution of the journalists has been condemned by the International Federation of Journalists and Britain’s NUJ union.

The sentences were slammed by many other countries and organisations, including the United Nations, United States and European Union, but Mr Casson’s case was more embarrassing for the Egyptian authorities because he spoke in Arabic on domestic TV, saying he was “shocked and concerned.”

The three journalists are now seeking a presidential pardon. Military strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has previously expressed regret over how long the trial was taking and the damage it was doing to Egypt’s reputation.