Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry arrived before dawn in this highway town where many people had stayed up all night waiting to hear him speak.

He had left Lahore early Saturday on a 230-kilometre (140-mile) journey to the central city of Multan to address a lawyers' convention.

En route, thousands of people have showered him with fresh rose petals and chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, who suspended him March 9 over allegations of misconduct.

"Go Musharraf, go" they chanted to drum beats, as villagers led decorated horses and camels in a traditional welcome. Some threw currency notes.

"Supremacy of law and judiciary is inevitable for the country," Chaudhry told the crowd of around 5,000.