Pakistanis throng streets to greet suspended judge

LAHORE, Pakistan, May 6 (Reuters) Tens of thousands of Pakistanis who had waited through the night gave a tumultuous reception today to the judge who defied President Pervez Musharraf as he arrived in the city of Lahore.

The cry of ''Go, Musharraf go'' rang out as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry entered Lahore at the head of a caravan carrying supporters and media, more than 20 hours after setting out from the capital, Islamabad.

Lahore is considered Pakistan's political nerve centre and Chaudhry's reception there is seen as a test of his backing.

Well-wishers clambered over his four-wheel-drive car, a familiar sight throughout the judge's marathon journey from the capital.

As the sun rose over the suburbs of Lahore, it revealed the scale of support for the judge Musharraf charged with misconduct.

People lined the streets and peered from flyovers to glimpse the man who has been transformed into a symbol of resistance since his suspension on March 9 plunged the country into a judicial crisis.

''We are here to save the institution. This is an injustice,'' said Humayun, a bearded farmer in a skull cap.

The 40-year-old from the city of Rawalpindi had travelled in one of the 200 vehicles accompanying Chaudhry from Islamabad.

The size of the procession swelled as it approached Lahore.

Huge crowds, waving flags of opposition groups and chanting anti-Musharraf slogans, took to the streets.

The legal community and opposition see Musharraf's move to sack Chaudhry as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

Chaudhry was due to address Lahore's legal community later on Sunday and media reports said about 17 of the city's high court judges would attend.

CLEAR SIGN That would be a clear sign to authorities, along with the scenes on the roads, that their efforts to contain the crisis were failing, observers said.

The Lahore rally is the biggest opposition show of strength since Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup.

''I haven't seen anything like this since 1986 when Benazir returned,'' said Fakhr Imam, a former National Assembly speaker and a leader of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party.

He was referring to the crowds that turned out to greet Bhutto when she returned from exile, seven years after the military executed her father, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Chaudhry's refusal to resign in the face of charges of misconduct, and the widespread sympathy for his stand, have created the most serious challenge to Musharraf's authority.

Musharraf, speaking at a rally in Sindh province on Saturday, accused lawyers of politicising a judicial matter by holding protests.

''I warn the lawyers that they will not succeed in their designs ... I ask the lawyers to shun politics,'' he said.

Musharraf is due to seek re-election in September or October.

Controversially, he wants to be re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies before they are dissolved for elections expected to be held at the end of the year.

Analysts say his main motive in seeking the removal of the independent-minded chief justice is to have a more pliable man in place in case of a constitutional challenge to his plans.

Chaudhry has already taken his case to Sindh and to North West Frontier Province.

But the trip to Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, is most important because it is the traditional stronghold of the establishment and the country's richest, most populous region.

REUTERS AGL ND1018