The editor of an Egyptian state-owned daily has been summoned by a French court to answer charges of inciting hatred against Jews, the daily reported on Wednesday.

Ibrahim Nafie, editor of Al Ahram , was summoned to appear before a Paris court on August 9, the paper said.

The investigation was prompted by a complaint about the story "Jewish pie from Arab blood," written by journalist Adel Hammouda, which appeared in the paper's 10 October 2000 edition.

That story quoted an 1898 book claiming that in 1840 a French priest and his Arab servant were kidnapped and murdered in the Jewish quarter of Damascus, and their blood and ground bones were baked into holiday pastries.

"The summons represents an attempt to stifle freedom of expression and the press in Egypt," a statement published on Al Ahram 's front page quoted Nafie as saying. AFP