Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says he is considering pardoning Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste and one of his colleagues.

Three Al Jazeera journalists were sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail on charges of spreading lies to help a "terrorist organisation", an allusion to the Muslim Brotherhood, in a ruling that sparked a global outcry.

Mr Sisi issued a decree last week that allows him to repatriate foreign prisoners, raising the prospect Mr Greste and Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy could be released.

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The third Al Jazeera journalist behind bars, Baher Mohamed, is Egyptian, so would not be expected to benefit.

"Let us say that this matter is being discussed to solve the issue," Mr Sisi said in an interview with France 24 when asked if he would use a presidential pardon to free the two Al Jazeera journalists who hold foreign nationalities.

Asked when a decision might be made, he said: "If we find this appropriate for the national security of Egypt, we will do it."

Mr Sisi has previously refused to intervene in the case, suggesting that doing so would undermine judicial independence.

But he said in July he wished the trio had been deported and not put on trial.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the AM program the Egyptian leader had previously said the possibility of a pardon or clemency would not be considered until after Peter Greste's appeal next year.

"So if there are indications from the Egyptian president that he will do that prior to the hearing of the appeal then we would welcome that and I will certainly take that up with the Egyptian representatives here at the UN," she said.

"This is certainly what we've been urging upon the Egyptian government at the very highest levels continuously calling for Peter Greste to be released so we can bring him home."

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera has called the accusations against its three journalists absurd.

In response to Mr Sisi's comments, a spokesman for Al Jazeera said in an emailed statement: "The Egyptian authorities have it in their power to release our journalists.

"World opinion expects this to happen speedily, and for all three to be freed."

Human rights groups condemned their trial as a sham, Western governments decried the verdict and the United Nations questioned Egypt's reputation and the independence of its judiciary.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have been strained since mid-2013 when then-army chief Mr Sisi ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

But those tensions have showed signs of easing recently.

Qatar expelled prominent Brotherhood leaders in September and Egypt on Wednesday welcomed an agreement to end an eight-month dispute among Gulf Arab states over Qatar's support for the Islamist group.

Greste's father, brother cautiously hopeful

Greste's parents Juris and Lois said they were happy to hear the news but were not getting their hopes too high yet.

"We welcome the announcement," Juris said.

"It does fill us with a lot of hope, but at the same time various indications and messages had been given over the last, well, 11 months, or at least the last six months, which did build up a lot of hope and expectation.

Sorry, this video has expired Mike Greste talks about his brother's possible release

"Regrettably so far just about all of those expectations ended up in bitter disappointment."

Juris Greste used Friday's media conference to address the Egyptian president directly, pleading for his son's release.

"Dear Mr President al-Sisi, we realise that the decision to free Peter isn't entirely in your hands alone, but please, please see to it that Peter is back with his family before Christmas," he said.

Juris Greste said earlier his son should never have been convicted and a pardon should not be necessary.

Mike Greste, Peter's brother, said the family had also been fighting to improve conditions for the journalist while in prison.

"Our knowledge is that pretty much the conditions in the cell have remained the same since after the conviction," Mike Greste said.

"He gets a reasonable amount of freedom outside of his cell during daylight hours but otherwise we try to see if we can extend his exercise times and those sorts of things as we progress. But they're very small steps.

"They're certainly different conditions and much more improved and better to what he was having to endure during the initial court process."

ABC/wires