A Swedish court has sentenced a Somali man to four years in prison after he forced his 13-year-old daughter to undergo circumcision.

Swedish citizen Ali Elmi Hayow, 41, held his daughter down as she underwent the procedure. He denies all charges.

This is the first such conviction in Sweden since the practice of circumcision was banned back in 1982.

Female circumcision, which is common in parts of Africa, involves the partial or total removal of the external genital organs.

The court decided Hayow forced his daughter to undergo circumcision during a 2001 visit to Somalia.

"He decided that the girl should be circumcised, and together with another person kept firm hold of her while a circumciser performed the operation," prosecutor Agnate Henrikson told the BBC.

The court said their decision was based on the girl's "clear and coherent" testimony, and medical examination.

The court ruled, "Her version seems spontaneous and contains some details that lead the court to believe that the events really occurred."

Hayow was also convicted of leaving to Somalia with his daughter and son without his ex-wife's permission.

He was ordered to pay his daughter damages of 346,000 kronor (US$46,000).

This case is the first regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) in a Scandinavian country.

Since 1982, Swedish law has prohibited carrying out the procedure. The law was changed in 1999 to ban taking children abroad for the operation.

FGM is banned in many African countries, but is still widespread in some places.

It can result in infection and, some cases, death.