The Egyptian state news agency MENA has retracted a statement saying the government had closed down a newspaper that carried photographs showing a former Coptic cleric allegedly having sex with a woman in a monastery.

In what correspondents say is an unprecedented retraction, the agency said the report, which had directly quoted the Egyptian Prime Minister, Atef Ebeid, was wrong and based on a misunderstanding of Mr Ebeid's statement.

Publication of the pictures has led to violent protests by Coptic Christians in Egypt, saying it was an insult to their faith.

The editor of the newspaper Al-Nabaa has now been charged with inciting sectarian sedition, while the head of the Coptic community, Pope Shenouda, says he has filed a libel suit against the newspaper.