BEIRUT, Oct 14 (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome on his first official visit to Lebanon, where he hailed the country's resistance against Israeli "aggression."
And on Thursday he was due to defy his international critics by touring villages in the south of the country, just a few kilometres (miles) from the Israeli border, that were destroyed during the 2006 conflict.
Ahmadinejad was showered with rice and rose petals Wednesday by tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters who lined the streets and waved Iranian flags as his motorcade made its way from the airport to the presidential palace.
He can also expect a hero's welcome in southern Lebanon Thursday, where Iran has been a major donor in reconstruction following the month-long 2006 war.
The two-day trip is viewed as a boost for the Shiite militant Hezbollah. Members of Lebanon's pro-Western parliamentary majority however have criticised it as a bid to turn the country into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean."
In Washington, the White House described the official visit as "provocative", while Israeli officials said it marked Lebanon's transformation into an "extremist state."
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