Pakistan court grants Musharraf bail

Pakistan's former military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, was granted bail Monday in a case related to the 2007 killing of a cleric during a raid on a mosque – a ruling that moves him a step closer to freedom after months under house arrest and legal wrangling over his fate.

Musharraf has been embroiled in a web of legal cases, including one relating to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, since returning to Pakistan in March from self-imposed exile to contest a May election. His arrest was unprecedented in a country where the army wields enormous power.

"The court has granted him bail," Afshan Adil, a member of Musharraf's legal team, told Reuters. "Musharraf will not leave the country and will face all the cases. God willing, Musharraf will be acquitted in this case."

Ilyas Saddiqi, another Musharraf lawyer, said the bail granted Monday means the former leader should be free to leave his house on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he has been held under arrest since April because of serious threats to his life by the Taliban.

Judge Wajid Ali approved bail on condition Musharraf pay bonds totaling $2,000.

His name is currently on the Interior Ministry's "exit control list," which means he cannot leave Pakistan without the approval of the government.

Musharraf was arrested last month over a deadly 2007 raid on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, just one day after he was granted bail in the last of three major cases against him dating back to his rule, which lasted from 1999 until his exile in 2008. During his exile, Musharraf spent time in London and Dubai.

Musharraf ordered troops to storm the Red Mosque in Islamabad to crush a Taliban-style movement there in July 2007. Musharraf ordered the raid after students there began harassing massage parlors, stores in the capital that sold music and other targets that they felt promoted vulgarity.

The people holed up in the mosque fought for days. The raid ended with nearly 100 people dead, including at least 10 army commandos. The army said it seized a large cache of arms from the mosque when the siege was over.

The incident severely damaged Musharraf's reputation in the country and earned him the undying hatred of fighters who launched a series of punishing attacks following the raid.

In September, Musharraf was charged in connection with the death of a Muslim leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi during the siege of the mosque.

The case stems from a complaint filed by Ghazi's son. The son had been pushing for Musharraf to be investigated but police refused until a judge in Islamabad ordered them to open a case in early September.

Musharraf, a former commando, returned to Pakistan in March to run in the May general election, vowing to "save" the country from economic collapse and militancy. But he was barred from standing in the election, won convincingly by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – the man he removed from power in 1999 – and was hit with a series of criminal cases dating back to his rule.

The images of Musharraf facing justice like any other Pakistani citizen have been stunning in a country where the military has taken power in three coups and wielded enormous power even under civilian governments. Pakistan's army chief advised Musharraf not to return, but he ignored the advice.

Al Jazeera and wire services