Pakistan's Musharraf step closer to release after bail

Mr Musharraf hoped to fight elections, but has been under arrest for months

A Pakistani court has granted bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the 2007 army operation to oust militants from Islamabad's Red Mosque.

The court approved bail on condition Mr Musharraf pay bonds totalling $2,000.

BBC correspondents say he has now been bailed in all the cases against him, which makes it likely he will be released from house arrest.

But the former general remains on a government exit control list and cannot leave the country.

Speaking outside the court, his lawyer said Mr Musharraf had no intention of leaving Pakistan.

The operation ordered by Gen Musharraf on Islamabad's besieged Red Mosque left a cleric and more than 100 others dead, and fuelled a deadly militant insurgency inside Pakistan which rages to this day.

He returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile to fight elections earlier this year.

He insists all the charges against him are politically motivated.