Pakistani authorities have released an alleged al-Qaida militant accused of involvement in a bomb attack against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last year.

Pakistani police officers escort head-covered suspect Qari Safullah Akhtar after he appeared at provincial court in Karachi, 15 Mar 2008

A court in the city of Karachi ordered prison officials to release Qari Saifullah Akhtar Wednesday for lack of evidence. But, the court also ruled that Akhtar must make himself available for further questioning if sufficient evidence is found.

Ms. Bhutto accused Akhtar of plotting the double suicide bombing of her homecoming parade in Karachi last October that killed about 140 people. She made the accusation in a book written before her assassination in a December gun and bomb attack in Rawalpindi.

Pakistani authorities had detained Akhtar last month. They also accuse him of attending al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan before the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

ome information for this report was provided by AFP.