THE ADVOCATE, Baton Rouge, La (Monday July 15, 1996) Page 2A.

EGYPTIAN GIRL, 11, DIES FOLLOWING CIRCUMCISION

Cairo, Egypt - An 11-year-old girl bled to death after a botched
circumcision performed by a village barber, police officials said
Sunday.
       The officials said the child, whose name was given only as
Sara, died Friday in a Cairo hospital after doctors were unable
to stem heavy bleeding.
       The girl's clitoris was removed by a barber in a village
in the Nile Delta the day before, when several girls were
circumcised during a village celebration, the officials said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.  The government has sought to
end female circumcision, the ritual cutting away of a girl's
genitals.  It has refused to ban the practice outright as human
rights activist demand.
       The procedure is seen as a way to prevent promiscuity by
stifling sexual desire; 70 to 90 percent of young girls in Egypt
are circumcised.