Dhaka  - Former Bangladeshi premier Khaleda Zia walked to freedom Thursday from a high security makeshift prison in the parliament complex in northern Dhaka, a senior prison official said.

Inspector General of Prisons Zakir Hasan said Zia was freed from her special cell after the courts delivered her release order.

Thousands of supporters of the ex-prime minister thronged the parliament building after news of her release spread.

Zia's release comes a year after she was arrested for graft and abuse of power during her second five-year term as prime minister leading a four-party alliance government which included her Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

"The erstwhile prime minister was set free after the High Court granted her bail for three months in a case of kickbacks that she allegedly obtained from multi-national oil companies," Hasan said.

Zia, who had steered the country for a decade, was accused of embezzling charity funds for an orphanage named after her husband, military ruler Zia-ur Rahman, who was toppled and killed by co-officers in 1981.

She was arrested in September 2007 on two other charges of extortion.

The parliament was dissolved and a general election fixed for January 22, 2007 was stalled amid fears of a civil war breaking out in the impoverished South Asian country.

Widespread unrest triggered by a standoff between Zia and her principal rival Sheikh Hasina, another ex-premier, led to the appointment of an army-backed interim government by President Iajuddin Ahmad.

The interim authorities launched an anti-corruption purge which indicted both Zia and Hasina. (dpa)