Pakistan's deposed chief justice arrived in his hometown on Monday to a hero’s welcome as he launched a drive to win back his old job and deal another blow to embattled President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan’s new government freed Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other senior judges last week, more than four months after they were dismissed and put under house arrest by the US-backed president.

Hundreds of flag-waving political activists and black-suited lawyers gathered at Quetta’s airport to greet Chaudhry as he began the first in a series of trips across the country to build support for the judges’ reinstatement.

“I hope this is an important moment for the revival and independence of the judiciary,” said Nasir Yousafzai, a high court lawyer. “We are on the verge of victory.”

Chaudhry climbed into a bulletproof black sports utility vehicle which inched through the crowd. Well-wishers showered the vehicle in pink rose petals and chanted slogans including “Go Musharraf go!”

About a dozen pickup trucks carrying heavily armed anti-terrorist police escorted Chaudhry’s convoy as it headed into the city where he was due to address the bar association and visit relatives.

Musharraf replaced senior judges with appointees loyal to him when he declared emergency rule in November. His actions stirred popular resentment of military rule and spurred a political sea change in Pakistan more than eight years after the president took power in a military coup.

Musharraf could lose his already weakening hold on the presidency if the old judiciary returns because the Supreme Court could reconsider the legality of his contested re-election as head of state last year. Opposition parties swept Feb. 18 parliamentary elections and now lead a civilian administration.

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