A crowd of about 1,000 people who had slipped pass tight police cordon were at the airport this morning to welcome back former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim from his umrah (minor pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia.

Many were at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as early as 7am to receive Anwar, who left Malaysia a month ago for an urgent surgery on his bad back in Germany days after he was released from prison.

Some of his supporters had stayed overnight at the airport in the bid to escape the police cordon. However, thousands more were stopped by the police from reaching the airport this morning at roadblocks set along six key roads leading to KLIA.

The police also turned back all suspected Anwar's supporters at the train stations of the high-speed Ekspres Rail Link which runs to the airport. This included the Putrajaya station where commuters were ordered by the police to go home.

Some of those who had arrived at the airport were not allowed to go into the airport building's arrival hall. The airport management also made repeated announcement that only passengers are allowed into the hall because of a 'police security check'.

Flowery welcome

Anwar's Saudi Air flight landed at about 8.36am and he walked out from the arrival hall 45 minutes later. He was accompanied by his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and their children.

Anwar, in a grey colour coat, looked in high spirit and waved to the frenzy crowd who were chanting 'Reformasi' and 'Long Live Anwar'.

Seeing the commotion, Anwar put his forefinger on his lips, telling his supporters to keep silent as he walked out unaided from the arrival hall.

A number of supporters gave Anwar flowers, among them roses and chrysanthemums. Those who were unable to reach him, threw the flowers in his direction.

The garlanded Anwar was then whisked away from the airport to his home at Damansara Heights in a car at about 9.30am. He is expected to hold a press conference in his house this afternoon.

Before reaching home, Anwar and his family stopped at the Damansara Muslim cemetery where they spent 15 minutes offering prayers for his late mother Che Yan Hamid and elder brother Abdul Rani, both of whom who had passed away in 2001 and 1999 respectively while the ex-politician was in jail.

He arrived at his home in Damansara Heights at about 10.30am where about 2,500 supporters were waiting for him.

Anwar puzzled

A string of opposition leaders spoke to the crowd. Among them were his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the president of PKR, and DAP chairperson Karpal Singh and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Guan Eng said that today's strong-arm tactics by the police harked back to the days of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Seeing the roadblocks remind me of the Mahathir era. We thought under the administration of Pak Lah, such acts would be over."

An hour later, Anwar spoke. In his 20-minute speech, Anwar said he was puzzled by the tight security enforced by the police.

"I do not understand why the security forces behaved in that manner. They (his supporters) only wanted to welcome me home and did it in a peaceful manner. They brought flowers not bullets." he said.

He reminded his supporters that in the month of Ramadan, fasting was not the only way to practice Islam.

"It's also an appropriate time to renew our spirit and struggle. We must never forget the poor and the marginalised. We must struggle to stop all kinds of victimisation unto them. We cannot fast and yet allow corrupt practices which continue to suppress the people," he said.

Non-race-based politics

To the delight of his supporters, he pledged to continue his reform agenda and thanked all Malaysians who had supported him.

He said he wanted to start a new era of politics in Malaysia which is not race-based. He also added he would seek a meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to thank him for his release.

Meanwhile, Selangor police chief Mohd Fauzi Sa'ari said 500 police have been deployed and six road blocks were set up in today's operation.

At a press conference at the airport, he said the heavy police presence and roadblocks were 'to restrict the high number of people from coming to the airport'.

"If we don't limit the number of people coming into the airport, then it will cause problems to other travelers," he said.

He added that the police had successfully controlled the crowd and no one was arrested in the operation.

Mohd Fauzi estimated about 800 Anwar's supporters turned out to the airport.

"The supporters were quite cooperative. They did not give us problem," he said.

However, there were reports of a minor altercation between the police and Anwar's supporters where the glasses of a key Parti Keadilan Rakyat leadrer, Tian Chua, were broken.