Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of a sex attack on a New York City hotel maid, was awaiting release from jail Friday morning after having been granted bail on Thursday.

After Strauss-Kahn spent nearly a week in police custody and then jail, the judge agreed to free him on $1 million cash bail plus an additional $5 million bond — provided he's confined to a New York apartment.

He will be subject to electronic monitoring and under the watch of an armed guard, a prosecutor said.

The onetime potential French presidential contender faces several felony charges related to to the alleged assault. He denies the allegations.

Strauss-Kahn wasn't immediately released from the city's bleak Rikers Island jail, where he had been kept in protective custody and on a suicide watch. But his lawyers expect he'll get out Friday, after he posts the bond and authorities review the security arrangements involved in his house arrest.

The 62-year-old French economist and diplomat briefly wore an expression of relief after state Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Obus announced his decision in a packed courtroom. Later, Strauss-Kahn blew a kiss toward his wife.

Lawyers arguing whether the ex-IMF chief would be released from jail pending a trial have used two famous examples from different sides of the spectrum to make their case — Roman Polanski and Bernard Madoff.

Prosecutors brought up Polanski, the French filmmaker whom U.S. authorities pursued for decades after he jumped bail in a 1977 child-sex case.

If this past weekend’s unexpected box office numbers, the critics, and the EW.com readers posting in the comments sections are any indication, people can’t seem to get enough of Bridesmaids. And while many fans are getting their fill by seeing the top-notch comedy more than once in the theaters (and readying a spot for it in their DVD collections), the idea of a possible sequel ought to make them sing Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On” from the rooftops with excitement.
That’s right, a possible sequel: Bridesmaids‘ director Paul Feig, along with the movie’s scene (and puppy) stealer Melissa McCarthy, spoke to Vulture about the prospect of a follow-up to the Spring smash. Said Feig, “Who knows? I mean, it depends how we do in the next couple weeks, but I know there’s definitely … it’s already been brought up. So, um, you know, when you get a group that’s this deep and this good, it’s a crime to not use them again. You just want to make sure that you do it as well as you did the first one and try to make it better, even. So, we’re up for the challenge.” Better yet, McCarthy seemed game for the idea. The actress said, “I will show up wherever these guys tell me to go.”