A French court ordered the release of the symbolic leader of the People's Mujahedeen, Maryam Rajavi, and eight members of the Iranian armed opposition group held on suspicion of committing terrorist offenses, her lawyers said.
The Paris appeals court ordered Rajavi to post bail of 80,000 euros (92,200 dollars), her lawyers said, adding that she would likely be freed in the next 24 to 48 hours once her family was able to raise the money.
Rajavi and 16 others were placed under judicial investigation last month -- the first step before possible formal charges in France -- for alleged links to a terrorist organization and for funding terrorist activity after French police launched a major crackdown on the People's Mujahedeen.
More than 1,200 French officers raided a dozen locations northwest of Paris linked to the group, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Iran, and initially detained 165 people.
Of the 17 placed under investigation, 11 were locked up. The Paris appeals court ordered the release of two women overnight, and the nine others on Wednesday, with only Rajavi and one other woman ordered to post bail.
The decision went against the recommendation of state prosecutors, who asked that Rajavi -- seen by the People's Mujahedeen as the "president-elect" of a future Iranian government -- remain behind bars.
The news of Rajavi's imminent release elicited cries of joy from some 600 supporters gathered in the Paris suburb of Auvers-sur-Oise, site of the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the People Mujahedeen's political wing.
"This is the happiest day of my life," said Shahin Gobadi, a spokesman for the group. "It shows that all of the allegations against the resistance were absolutely baseless."
Rajavi's detention had sparked outrage among her followers, with a spate of self-immolation protests across Europe and several dozen people observing a hunger strike outside the NCRI's headquarters.
Two of the 10 people who set themselves on fire over Rajavi's arrest -- a woman in Paris and another in London -- have since died of their injuries.
French officials have accused the group, deprived of support from Saddam Hussein following the US-led toppling of the Iraqi regime in April, of making Auvers-sur-Oise their international base and planning attacks against Iranian interests in Europe.
The People's Mujahedeen, which has been active in France for 20 years, has angrily denied the charges against it, accusing France of trying to curry favor with the government in Tehran by rounding up its followers.
"This is nothing but a political case," Gobadi said.
Iran has requested the extradition of Mujahedeen members being held in France, but French officials say those who are legal residents will not be deported. Rajavi has political refugee status in France, valid until 2006.
With a program that blends left-wing and Islamic ideology, the People's Mujahedeen took part in the 1979 revolution in Iran, but the movement was suppressed in the years that followed and its members fled abroad.
Under the leadership of Rajavi's husband Massoud, the military wing of the group took refuge in Iraq in 1986, from where it organized attacks inside Iran.
Rajavi's meteoric ascent within the group was coupled with the dumping of her first husband and pairing off with the rugged Massoud, fuelling criticism from detractors who say the group is little more than a cult.