BEIRUT: The Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Saturday called for a huge turnout to welcome Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he arrives on a two-day official visit to Lebanon next week.
“I urge the Lebanese people and the Palestinians (in the refugee camps) to welcome the president of Iran and to take part massively in the events organised for his visit,” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said.
He was speaking by video link to a ceremony organised by the group's Jihad al-Bina reconstruction department.
Ahmadinejad's October 13-14 visit is eagerly anticipated by Hezbollah, which is planning to give him a huge welcome as well as a tour of the southern border region with Israel.
“President Ahmadinejad wants to visit Qana to pay homage to the martyrs and Bint Jbeil because of the symbol of resistance it represents,” Nasrallah said of two villages in south Lebanon.
Qana was the target of deadly Israeli raids in 1996 and also a decade later during the July-August summer war with Hezbollah, while the frontline village of Bint Jbeil saw fierce firefights during the 2006 conflict.
“His programme does not include Mr Ahmadinejad throwing a stone at Israel on the border,” Nasrallah said, denying rumours that he might do so.
“If President Ahmadinejad asks my opinion, I shall say: 'A stone? You are capable of throwing more than a stone',” at Israel, Nasrallah added to applause.
Israel has accused the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah of stockpiling sophisticated weaponry in anticipation of another conflict with the Jewish state.
Nasrallah on Saturday thanked Iran for its “moral and political” support, as well as the “enormous sums” spent by Tehran on reconstruction projects in the south after the war four years ago.
Ahmadinejad's trip has sparked controversy in Lebanon with some members of the pro-Western parliamentary majority calling it a provocation and the United States also expressing concern.
Both Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah are set to appear together at a rally in a stadium in Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut.
The leader of Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by Washington, had lived in hiding and last appeared in person in July 2008 until Friday, when he planted a tree outside his home in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The building was destroyed by air raids during the 2006 war.
Nasrallah has been Israel's public enemy number one since his Iranian- and Syrian-backed group fought the deadly month-long conflict.
Al-Manar, the Hezbollah television channel, also transmitted a spot on Saturday addressed to “supporters of the resistance” and urging a huge turnout to welcome “our brother” Ahmadinejad.
“We call on you to welcome President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday at 7:30 am (0430 GMT) all along the airport road,” the group's Al-Manar television broadcast over a picture of a smiling Iranian leader.
“Lebanon is the country of resistance -- welcome to your family,” the voice-over said of “dear brother” Ahmadinejad.
The television spot was signed by both Hezbollah and Amal, another Lebanese Shiite party that is allied to the “party of God.” During his visit, his first to Lebanon since his election in 2005, Ahmadinejad is due to meet President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and parliament speaker Nabih Berri. – AFP
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