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A young woman walks past a campaign banner against female genital mutilation (FGM) at the venue of an international conference, in 2004, in Nairobi, Kenya. A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during an illegal operation to mutilate her genitalia, the Al-Masri Al-Yom daily reported on Saturday.(AFP/File/Simon Maina)

CAIRO (AFP) - A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during an illegal operation to mutilate her genitalia, the Al-Masri Al-Yom daily reported on Saturday.

Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya. Her death was discovered after her father sought a death certificate from another doctor.

emale genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that dates back to pharaonic times in Egypt.

The practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate "in exceptional cases."

Female circumcision can cause death through haemorraging and later complications during childbirth. It also carries risks of infection, urinary tract problems and mental trauma.

A government survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country's women aged between 15 and 45 years of age.