COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A court granted bail for Sri Lanka's ex-army chief on Friday, amove seen as a step toward a full pardon for the man credited withending the country's long civil war but who later was jailed afterchallenging the president in elections. Sri Lanka's High Court set Sarath Fonseka's bail at $8,000 in acase where he is accused of harboring army deserters. His lawyer,Saliya Peiris, said that Fonseka was also asked to surrender hispassport. The court's decision comes ahead of a meeting between Sri Lanka'sforeign minister and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clintonon Friday in Washington in which human rights issues in the islandnation are expected to be discussed. The U.S. has called Fonseka apolitical prisoner. However, Fonseka will not be freed immediately because he isserving a 30-month jail term after a court martial found him guiltyof planning his political career while still in the military and ofcommitting fraud in purchasing military equipment. Separately, in November 2011, he was sentenced to an additionalthree-year prison term for implicating the defense secretary andpresident's brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in war crimes during SriLanka's civil war. He has appealed the conviction. Fonseka has said the cases are a political vendetta launched topersecute him for daring to run against incumbent President MahindaRajapaksa in the 2010 election. The government has denied anypolitical motive for the legal action. Government spokesmen over the past days have been hinting thatFonseka will be given a full pardon. President Rajapaksa also gotapproval from his Cabinet for Fonseka's release, a governmentwebsite reported Friday. Fonseka was hailed as a war hero in 2009 after he led Sri Lanka'sarmy to victory in its 26-year civil war with separatist TamilTiger rebels, and both he and Rajapaksa were immensely popularamong the Sinhalese majority for defeating a rebel group that hadseemed invincible for decades. But the two men had a falling out months after the war ended, andtheir relationship deteriorated further after the generalchallenged Rajapaksa in the Jan. 26, 2010, election. Fonseka wasarrested Feb. 8. Later that year, one court-martial found him guilty of planning hispolitical career while still in the military and stripped him ofhis title, medals, pension and other honors in addition todishonorably discharging him from the army. While in detention, Fonseka had won a parliamentary seat on theopposition ticket in April 2010, but he was disqualified fromholding office after the court-martial. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Box Beam Welding , Tank Welding Machine, and more. For more , please visit CNC Cutting Machine today!
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