Pakistan Grants Bail to Musharraf

After six months of house arrest, former Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf has been granted bail in the case of a 2007 mosque siege. Musharraf has already received bail in three other cases, the AP notes. Some have expected the former leader to exit Pakistan once the house arrest is over, the New York Times reports. But while this decision should end his confinement at home, it doesn't allow him to leave the country, according to one of his lawyers; another says he aims to stay in Pakistan and continue to seek a return to politics.

In 2007, the army laid siege to an Islamabad mosque; its radical cleric died in the process, but there was no evidence tying Musharraf to the death—hence his bail, a defense lawyer says, per the AP. Backers of the families of victims of the operation condemned the bail decision, calling it "a murder of justice." Meanwhile, Musharraf continues to face cases over the deaths of former PM Benazir Bhutto and politician Nawab Akbar Bugti, as well as the detention of judges. (More Pakistan stories.)