KIEV, Oct. 20 - Rasul Guliyev, the Azeri opposition leader who seeks to challenge President Ilkham Aliyev??™s party at general election Nov. 6, was released Thursday from Ukrainian custody following a local court ruling.

Guliyev, 58, a former oil engineer and executive, was arrested in Simferopol Oct. 17 at the request of the Azeri government, who had accused him of embezzlements. The Ukrainian court ruled the charges had been politically motivated, a television report said.