Pakistan's new government freed a prominent ethnic Baluch leader Friday as it tries to forge reconciliation in the restive southwest of the country.
Jubilant supporters crowded Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of Baluchistan National Party, as he left a Karachi hospital, where he was detained because of ill health.
Mengal was arrested in August 2006, accused of torturing two military intelligence officials. Supporters claimed the accusations were politically motivated.
Senior security official Arif Ahmed Khan said charges against Mengal have been withdrawn.
Pakistan's newly elected civilian government says it wants to promote dialogue with ethnic leaders in impoverished Baluchistan, scene of a long-running insurgency.
The former government of President Pervez Musharraf launched military operations against Baluch rebels, who are fighting for more autonomy and a greater share of the revenues from natural gas and other resources extracted from the region.