Five men executed in Iran

Large crowds have attended public executions in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Correspondents say such executions are increasingly rare under the more moderate social policies of President Khatami.

Five men, nicknamed the Black Vultures, were hanged from cranes at two sites in the city watched by thousands of people, many of them women.

The five had been convicted of a series of abductions, rapes and robberies across Tehran.

Their crime spree attracted such notoriety that there were no last-minute appeals for clemency or protests by opponents of the death penalty.

The authorities said the decision to stage the hangings in the open was in response to public demand, particularly from women.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service