Pakistani court order release of ex president Musharraf

A court in Pakistan on Wednesday ordered former President Pervez Musharraf to be released from house arrest two days after he was granted bail in connection with the attack on Islamabad's Red Mosque. The former military ruler has already got bail in two other high profile cases -- the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the killing of senior tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006 military operation. Additional Session Judge, Wajid Ali, ordered Musharraf should be released as his lawyers deposited two surety bonds. Lawyers said Musharraf is likely to be set free later on Wednesday after the written order is delivered at his farmhouse in Islamabad where he has been detained for several months. Musharraf's defence lawyer, Ilyas Siddiqi, said the former President is now a free man and that he can go anywhere he wants. "Pervez Musharraf has been granted bail in all cases. There are no restrictions on his movement," Siddiqi told reporters after the court issued his release order. The lawyer also demanded removal of Musharraf's name from the Exit Control List. Musharraf was formally arrested in the murder case of Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the senior cleric of the Red Mosque who was killed in the military operation during Musharraf's rule in 2007. Nearly 90 religious students and 11 security personnel were also killed during the three-day clash in July 2007. Musharraf was accused of issuing order for the military raid on the mosque and its girls' religious school after some of the armed students took control of the buildings and refused to surrender. Musharraf's lawyers argued in the court that the former President had not issued any written order for the military raid on the militants-affiliated mosque. It is widely believed that bail to Musharraf in the mosque case has paved the way for his possible going abroad. However, a Musharraf's lawyer insisted that the former military leader will not leave the country. Musharraf returned to the country in March after a nearly four- year self-imposed exile to take part in elections. However, a court disqualified him from standing in the May elections. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that Musharraf cannot leave the country as his name is included in the list of those who are barred from going abroad. "Musharraf's name is on Exit Control List and it would not be removed until the court's decision," Khan told reporters last week. The former military ruler also faces high treason charge as he had suspended the constitution and imposed emergency in 2007. The high treason case was initiated after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced in June his government had formally approached the Supreme Court for Musharraf's trial.