Pervez Musharraf granted bail in Pakistan

GlobalPost

A court in Islamabad granted former military chief Pervez Musharraf bail on Monday in connection to the murder of Benazir Bhutto.

However, the ruling does not mean an automatic release for Musharraf

He also faces court hearings over the firing of judges when he imposed emergency rule on Pakistan in 2007, and the death of a Baluch rebel leader, Agence France-Presse reported.

Judge Habibur Rehman ordered Musharraf to pay two bonds worth one million rupees ($10,000) each.

Musharraf, who ruled the country from 1999 to 2008, was arrested on April 19 on charges of conspiracy to murder Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister who was assassinated in a bomb attack in 2007 in Rawalpindi.

He seized power in a 1999 coup and returned to Pakistan this March after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest a May 11 general election, but he was disqualified from standing due to his pending court cases, Reuters reported.

Musharraf's government blamed the killing of two-time Prime Minister Bhutto on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone attack in 2009, Al Jazeera reported.

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