IRAN: DA VINCI CODE BANNED

Tehran, 26 July (AKI) - The Iranian culture ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday it was banning the Farsi edition of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code. The decision was reportedly taken after the Organisation for Islamic Communication - a body controlled by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - protested against the book which was denounced as "an offence to Christianity." The ban also concerns the film based on the novel.