The signees of the letter include well-known TV news faces seen in South Africa who've covered Egypt, such as Christiane Amanpour, Reza Sayah and Ben Wedeman of CNN International (DStv 401), Lyce Doucet from BBC World News (DStv 400 / StarSat 400), Ayman Mohyeldin of NBC News, Kahtyrn Stapley of France24 (StarSat 402).
Nobody from Al Jazeera signed the letter.
"We the undersigned correspondents and editors of international news organisations covering Egypt, hereby call for the immediate release of our colleagues (correspondent) Peter Greste, (producer) Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and (cameraman) Baher Mohamed, who have been arbitrarily imprisoned since December 29," says the open letter.
"We are deeply concerned to learn that our colleagues, all three of whom are well-respected journalists, may face charges that include belonging to a terrorist organisation and spreading false news that could endanger national security."
"We also call for the release of other journalists who have been detained in Egypt, some of whom have been arbitrarily imprisoned for over five months."
"The arrest of these journalists has cast a cloud over press and media freedom in Egypt. We strongly believe that upholding the rights of journalism and permitting the free flow of information is vital to bringing about greater understanding and serves the best interest of all Egyptians and the world."
