CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian man is to stand trial for claiming in a television interview that adultery is common among married women in the country's conservative south, the state prosecutor said Wednesday (Feb 24).

Taimour Subki, who runs a Facebook page titled "The Diary of a Crushed Husband," hurriedly backtracked on the claim after the interview on a talk show spread on social media this month.

But the prosecution said he would face trial for "spreading false news that disturbs public peace".

An uproar on social media has led to the cancellation of the talk show, aired on private satellite station CBC, that hosted Subki.

"Many women cheat on their husbands... I can say that 30 per cent of women are ready to be deviant," Subki said, singling out the southern cities of "Asyut, Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor and Aswan".

Subki said his remarks been taken out of context. "I didn't mean to insult anyone and I was speaking generally," he wrote in a Facebook post.