ISLAMABAD: Lawyers for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf submitted surety bonds in the Supreme Court on Thursday, bringing him closer to possible release from nearly six months of house arrest.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court was also moved today to stop the former president from leaving the country.

On Wednesday, Musharraf was granted bail in the case of the death of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti after the Supreme Court granted his appeal against rejection of a similar plea by the Balochistan High Court. The apex court asked the former army strongman to submit two surety bonds of Rs 1 million each to the Supreme Court Registrar.

Musharraf has now been granted bail in three major cases against him, including one relating to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and another over the detention of deposed Supreme Court judges.

According to a DawnNews report, guarantors Mohammad Hanif and Mumtaz Hussain submitted the bonds on Thursday in the apex court on behalf of Musharraf.

The former dictator is required to submit three additional surety bonds in the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court and the Islamabad High Court to get himself freed on bail.

However, police told Dawn on Wednesday that the surety bonds might not be submitted until it was clear that Musharraf’s name was not on the exit control list.

IHC moved to put Musharraf on ECL

Meanwhile, Haroon Rasheed Ghazi, a son of the slain Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court pleading that Musharraf’s name be added to the ECL.

The petitioner claimed that it was possible that if the former military ruler left Pakistan, he may not return again.

Ghazi further claimed that the Aabpara police station in Islamabad was investigating Musharraf for ordering the Lal Masjid operation in 2007, and therefore he should be barred from leaving the country.