(Adds quotes, details from courthouse and background in paragraphs 6-12)
By Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid
ISLAMABAD, May 12 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court ordered former Prime Minister Imran Khan's release on bail for two weeks, his lawyer said on Friday, after his arrest in a land fraud case ignited deadly protests and a tussle with the military.
The arrest, which the Supreme Court ruled "invalid and unlawful" a day earlier, has fuelled instability in the nation of 220 million at a time of economic crisis, with record inflation, anaemic growth and delayed IMF funding.
Khan welcomed the court's order and said the judiciary was Pakistan's only protection against the "law of the jungle".
"I must say I expected this from our judiciary, because the only hope now left – the only thin line between a banana republic and a democracy is the judiciary," he told journalists inside the court premises.
"Otherwise there is no rule of law here. It is a complete law of the jungle. Might is right, you can be picked up."
Khan added, in answer to questions, that he did not believe the country's security agencies were against him, but he suggested that the position of army chief was all-powerful.
"One man in this country decides whatever and it happens, it's one man. It's not the security agencies, it's one man – the army chief," he said, without naming him.
The army's public relations wing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Khan's critics once accused him of being manoeuvred into power in 2018 by the powerful military - a charge both sides denied. But he later fell out with the generals, accusing them of plotting his removal last year. He has since been a vocal critic of current army chief General Asim Munir.
Khan, 70, is a cricket hero-turned-politician who was ousted as prime minister in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote and who is Pakistan's most popular leader according to opinion polls.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party workers had been expecting him to walk out of court and deliver a speech following his release.
However, Khan remained in the courthouse, where he had spent around 10 hours, late on Friday, apparently awaiting security clearance from the authorities. While speaking to the media, his lawyer Naeem Haider said police had said the delay was due to firing outside the court.
VICTORY SIGN
The former premier entered court earlier on Friday wearing dark glasses and a sky blue shalwar kameez - the loose shirt and trousers popular in Pakistan - and a dark waistcoat, surrounded by lawyers and security forces, TV footage showed.