Tuesday, February 9, 1999 Published at 09:58 GMT
World: Middle East
Iran's intelligence minister goes
The Iranian intelligence minister has resigned following the arrest last month of some of his officials charged with murdering a number of prominent writers and intellectuals.
There were calls for the minister, Ghorban-ali Dorrie Najafabadi, to go following the revelations, but they were resisted pending the results of an investigation.
Senior officials have now confirmed that President Mohammed Khatami has accepted the resignation.
The BBC Tehran correspondent says if Mr Khatami succeeds in reforming the intelligence ministry , currently controlled by his conservative opponents, that would be a significant advance for the liberals backing him.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service