Australian journalist Peter Greste has been freed and is on his way to the airport, an Egyptian official has said. 

The Australian ex-BBC correspondent was arrested in December 2013 and imprisoned last June on charges including spreading false news.

There is no word on the two al-Jazeera men who were jailed with him, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, the BBC reports. 

All of the defendants denied the charges against them and have said their trial was a sham.

They were accused of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013.

The three men said they were simply reporting the news.

Egypt's top court had in January ordered a retrial of the three men.

But an Egyptian official told Agence France-Presse news agency on Sunday: "There is a presidential decision to deport Peter Greste to Australia."

Al-Jazeera has demanded the release of its journalists ever since they were arrested.

Mr Fahmy holds Egyptian and Canadian citizenship and is the Egyptian-Canadian bureau chief.

Mr Mohamed, a producer, is an Egyptian national.