Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's Islamabad to Quetta Trip

Pictures of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry's departure from his residence in Islamabad, arrival at Quetta airport and welcome rally.
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On Monday, supporters carried baskets of rose petals to shower Chaudhry at Quetta airport. Hundreds of flag-waving political activists and black-suited lawyers gathered at Quetta's airport to greet Chaudhry. In the baking sun outside, jubilant lawyers in stiff black suits chanted "Go, Musharraf, go!" and "Musharraf must go to jail!"

Pakistan's deposed chief justice arrived in his hometown to a hero's welcome. The ousted judge set out in a bulletproof sports utility vehicle on a seven-mile drive into Quetta, a southwestern city that is his hometown and the capital of Baluchistan province, an impoverished area.

The Mercedes SUV broke down, however, and had to be towed by another car. Underlining the country's extremist violence, lawyers formed a human shield around the vehicle as it inched forward while anti-terrorism police in pickup trucks with mounted machine guns traveled in front and back.

Hundreds of cars, rickshaws and trucks trailed Chaudhry amid a sea of political party flags representing ethnic Pashtuns, Baluch nationalists, Islamists and the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, an arch foe of Musharraf who is a key player in the new government. Crowds gathered along the roadside and on rooftops to watch.

It wasn't a mammoth turnout, but a spokesman for the lawyers movement that has led opposition to Musharraf for over a year said that the parade sent a powerful message.

"This is meant to be a reception by the lawyers but, as you can see, the people of Quetta and Baluchistan have come out," Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior lawyers leader, said from the driver's seat of the stricken SUV. "It's a signal and a message to all of Pakistan that this is how much people here love him and how much they want him back as chief justice."

Chaudhry, who planned to address the city's bar association later Monday, sat silently by Ahsan, fingering prayer beads and hiding his eyes behind sunglasses.

Sources: Associated Press & Reuters