stood aside

and

jubilant

crowds pulled in. There was a brief attempt to keep protesters out with tear gas, but it didn't last long, and the people here in Pearl Square are now vowing to remain until their demands are met.

Iran has freed two German reporters jailed last year after they interviewed the son of a woman condemned to death by stoning. The German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has arrived in Tehran to

accompany

them home. Earlier on Saturday, an Iranian court dropped the Germans' prison sentences imposed for visa irregularities and fined them instead. The journalists were arrested after meeting the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose death sentence for adultery was suspended following international criticism. Michael Backhaus is the deputy editor of Bild am Sonntag, the weekly for which the two journalists worked. He said staff at the paper felt a great sense of relief.

"For us, a nightmare that lasted 132 days has come to an end today.

In a word

, it's not just joy that we're feeling, but relief that what had been difficult days for our colleagues are now over."

At least 18 people have been killed and 70 wounded in an attack on a bank in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. The head of police in Jalalabad and his deputy were amongst those hurt. Witnesses described three initial blasts. Police then entered the building, and many of them were injured in a fourth explosion.