12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 11: Police stormed the Lahore High Court premises while chasing lawyers who have gathered there to set for the airport to welcome Shahbaz Sharif.

There was an exchange of bricks when lawyers tried to break the police siege at the GPO gate to leave for the airport.

The court premises presented the scene of a battlefield as stoning from both the sides continued for about 45 minutes. Later, a number of PML-N and PPP workers, including Asad Rehman Khakwani and Sajida Mir, joined the lawyers.

SSP Operations Aftab Ahmed Cheema approached the lawyers and convinced them to stop lobbing stones and bricks. Earlier, PML-N lawyers from all over the province gathered at the Karachi Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA).

In their speeches, they pledged to continue their struggle for the restoration of democracy in the country. -PPI