The only man to have admitted his role in the killing of controversial US black leader Malcolm X has been released from prison on parole.

Thomas Hagan, 69, was released from a New York jail 45 years after the assassination, officials confirmed.

Hagan said he was one of three men who shot Malcolm X as he began a speech at Harlem's Audubon Ballroom in 1965.

But he has insisted that the two men who were convicted with him were not involved.

They maintained their innocence and were paroled in the 1980s.

Hagan's release was announced by the New York State Department of Correctional Services on Tuesday.

Malcolm X in 1963
Malcolm X once called for a blacks-only state in the US

Spokeswoman Linda Foglia said he was scheduled for release on Wednesday but the date was moved forward because the paperwork had been completed.

Hagan, who has repeatedly expressed regret for his actions, applied for parole 16 times before a board approved his request last month.

He had been allowed to spend five nights a week at his Brooklyn home on a work- release program for the past 22 years.

In the 1960s, Hagan was a member of the militant Nation of Islam movement, in which Malcolm X was a major figure for some time.

Malcolm X rose to fame for his firebrand speeches in which he espoused black rights and denounced white people.

However, towards the end of his life he appeared to be taking a more conciliatory approach which made him enemies within the Nation of Islam.