A South African court on Thursday cleared Oscar Pistorius for international travel, easing stringent bail terms set for the Paralympian sprint star after he was charged with murdering his girlfriend. Pistorius, 26, whose athletics career has been on hold since the Valentine's Day killing of Reeva Steenkamp, had appealed against a raft of bail conditions he said were unfair and unwarranted. Pretoria High Court Judge Bert Bam said the initial magistrate's decision last month to order Pistorius to hand over his passport was "wrong".

PRETORIA (Reuters) - "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius was granted permission to travel abroad on Thursday when a South African judge relaxed bail conditions imposed after the Paralympic and Olympic track star was charged with murdering his girlfriend. Judge Bert Bam said the 26-year-old, a double amputee who won worldwide fame last year when he reached the semi-finals of the 400m in the London Olympics, could have his passport back and no longer needed to report to a probation officer.

A South African court on Thursday cleared sprinter Oscar Pistorius for international travel, easing stringent bail conditions imposed on him for killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. "I find that the magistrate's decision not to grant the appellant his passport to travel abroad was wrong," Judge Bert Bam told the High Court in Pretoria. The 26-year-old's passport must be handed to his attorney and the "applicant be allowed to use his passport outside South Africa", said Bam.

Lawyers for Oscar Pistorius told a South African court on Thursday that the Paralympic hero, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, was not a flight risk as they contested stringent bail conditions to enable him to travel abroad. Pistorius, 26, is challenging a raft of conditions including the confiscation of his passport that he says are unfair and unwarranted. "Why would this athlete go to a country without extradition and go and hide?" lawyer Barry Roux asked the High Court in Pretoria, saying the bail terms were tantamount to "house arrest".