Iranian president wraps up visit to Lebanon
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (3rd R) shakes hands with Lebanese during a rally by supporters of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah in the south Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, Oct. 14, 2010. [Xinhua] |
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrapped up a controversial two-day visit to Lebanon Thursday by meeting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah met late Thursday night at the premises of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, where they discussed recent political developments and the outcome of the Iranian president's visit, said a statement distributed by the Shiite militant group's media office.
Ahmadinejad's plane left the Beirut airport at midnight (10:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Ahmadinejad had predicted the "demise" of Israel during a speech on Thursday in the south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil, only 4 km away from the border with Israel.
He was given warm welcome in the Shiite-dominant South Lebanon, with tens of thousands local people attending the assemblies in Bint Jbeil and in another town Qana, wavering Lebanese, Hezbollah and Iranian flags.
The two towns were heavily destroyed in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and were rebuilt in the past four years with Iranian funds.
While the Iranian president was delivering his speech in Bint Jbeil, ultra Orthodox Israelis released balloons in the colors of the Israeli flag near the border with Lebanon in the Israeli village of Avivim, in protest of Ahmadinejad's visit to south Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad hailed what he called Lebanon's resistance against Israel, adding that Israel will sooner or later perish.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to reply and dismissed Ahmadinejad's comments as a "hateful verbal aggression from across the border."
