Pakistan opposition leader freed
From CNN Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The husband of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was released on bail Monday night, ending eight years in custody on corruption charges.
Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on the last of eight cases against him. Courts had earlier granted him bail in the other cases.
After he was released, party workers and activists throughout Pakistan distributed sweets in celebration. About a hundred supporters gathered outside the hospital where Zardari had been kept over the past few months.
Bhutto, talking to CNN from Dubai where she is living in exile, said she and her three children were happy that Zardari had been released.
She said she would continue to work against the regime of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and would soon make plans to return to Pakistan.
The former prime minister could face arrest if she returns because she was convicted in absentia on corruption charges.
Qasim Zia, a senior leader of the Pakistan People's Party, told CNN that Zardari's release was a turning point in the country's politics and that people would see more changes ahead.
Zardari had been imprisoned since November 1996, when then-President Farooq Leghari dissolved Bhutto's government.
