Iranian journalist appeals to president

A leading Iranian journalist on trial in Tehran has called on President Mohammad Khatami and a parliamentary committee which monitors political prisoners to review his case.

The official Iranian news agency reported that the journalist, Akbar Ganji, said he had been on hunger strike at Evin Prison since Thursday, when his trial was adjourned, to protest against what he described as mistreatment.

He's accused of undermining Iranian national security after attending a controversial conference in Germany on Iran's political future.

In scenes rarely witnessed in Iran's revolutionary courts, Mr Ganji repeatedly clashed with the judge and the public prosecutor, denouncing the trial as a farce.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service