Sudanese authorities are to free a woman who was sentenced to death for having abandoned the Islamic faith, a foreign ministry official has said.

Meriam Ibrahim, who gave birth to a daughter in custody, will be freed in a few days' time. Ibrahim, 27, was brought up as an Orthodox Christian, but a Sudanese judge ruled earlier this month that she should be regarded as Muslim because that had been her father's faith. She refused to renounce her Christianity and was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy. Her Christian marriage was annulled and she was sentenced to 100 lashes.