An Iranian newspaper cartoonist held on charges of insuting a prominent religious conservative has been released on bail.

The man Nik-Ahang Kosar had depicted Ayatatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, a strong critic of the reformist press in Iran, as a crocodile.

Publication of the cartoons led to led to big protest demonstrations in the holy city of Qom.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service