Scaffolds come down around the Sphinx

The Egyptian authorities say the scaffolding surrounding one of the world's most famous ancient monuments, the Sphinx, has been removed after seven years of restoration work.

The director of antiquities for the Pyramids region near Cairo, Ahmad al-Haggar, said one-hundred-thousand stones had been used to restore the Sphinx.

But he said the famous damaged face of the half-lion, half-man statue had not been touched.

A ceremony is planned for next year to celebrate the end of the restoration work on the four-thousand-six-hundred year old monument.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service