In pictures: Beirut welcomes returning exile

1 of 8 Supporters of Lebanese opposition leader Michel Aoun crowded into Beirut.

2 of 8 Some sought a vantage point to get a view of their hero returning to his homeland after 14 years of exile.

3 of 8 Michel Aoun's arrival provoked a media scrum.

4 of 8 Martyrs' Square was a sea of Lebanese flags.

5 of 8 Some Aoun supporters chanted slogans...

6 of 8 ... while others flashed victory signs.

7 of 8 Images of the opposition leader in his younger days were everywhere.

8 of 8 Some compared his homecoming to General de Gaulle's return to France after World War II.