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Musharraf Granted Bail In Case Of Red Mosque Raid


Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf (file photo)
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf (file photo)
A court in Pakistan has granted bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over a deadly raid on a radical mosque.

On November 4, an Islamabad district court ordered Musharraf to pay bail of about $2,000.

His name remains on the Interior Ministry’s "exit control list," meaning he cannot leave Pakistan without government approval.

Musharraf is accused of being responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people in 2007 by ordering commandos to storm the Red Mosque in Islamabad after a standoff between the mosque's supporters and security forces.

The ruling brings Musharraf's possible release closer after more than six months under house arrest.

He is now on bail in three cases brought against him since his return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile.

This includes a case concerning the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

Sharif Calls Meeting To Review U.S. Relations

Also in Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to meet security advisers on November 4 to review relations with Washington after a drone strike killed Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

Islamabad was trying to start peace talks with the Taliban when Mehsud was killed on November 1.

The attack prompted Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar to accuse Washington of "scuttling" peace efforts.

Washington rejected the criticism, saying the peace talks were an "internal matter."

Politician Imran Khan has called a vote on November 4 in the provincial assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on whether to block supply lines for NATO forces in Afghanistan that pass through the province.

On November 3, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a visiting delegation of U.S. lawmakers that the drone strike came "at an unsuitable time."

Karzai said he hopes the peace process is not harmed.


Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, "The New York Times," RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, and RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

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