Egypt summons UK ambassador over al-Jazeera trial

WORLD NEWS

John Casson criticised an Egyptian court's decision to jail three journalists

Britain's ambassador to Egypt has been summoned to the country's foreign ministry over his "unacceptable interference" following the trial of three al-Jazeera journalists.

Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste were each jailed for three years on Saturday for "spreading false news".

Ambassador John Casson said he was "shocked and concerned" by the ruling.

Egyptian authorities objected to his remarks and Mr Casson has attended a meeting with officials.

In comments made outside the court and on Facebook, Mr Casson said the court's decision would "undermine confidence in Egypt's stability".

Egypt's foreign ministry called his words "unacceptable interference" in the country's judiciary.

Mohamed Fahmy (left), Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were freed before their retrial

Twitter users in Egypt have also called for Mr Casson to be expelled over his comments, with more than 800 users tweeting the "expel_the_British_ambassador" hashtag.

Two British journalists working for al-Jazeera were sentenced in absentia in the original trial last year.

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