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 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 October 10, 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.

"Nafie affirmed his respect for the French judiciary and that he was never against Judaism as a religion, but that he was against the expansionist Israeli Likud policies that threaten stability and peace in the Middle East," the paper said.

Likud is the right-wing party which dominates the coalition governing Israel.

The French embassy in Cairo declined to comment on the story, saying it was a "judicial matter."

Nafie himself could not be reached for comment, and Al-Ahram did not make it clear if he would answer the summons or not.AFP