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Ahmadinejad Rails Against Israel at Lebanon Rally

   VOA News 14 October 2010
   Iranian  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashes a V sign during a rally
   organized  by  Hezbollah  in  the  southern border town of Bint Jbeil,
   Lebanon, 14 Oct 2010

Photo: AP

   Iranian  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashes a V sign during a rally
   organized  by  Hezbollah  in  the  southern border town of Bint Jbeil,
   Lebanon, 14 Oct 2010

   Iranian  President  Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad  told  tens  of  thousands of
   supporters Thursday in a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon that
   they occupy a "capital of resistance and victory" over Israel.
   Speaking  during a Hezbollah rally in Bint Jbeil, a village about four
   kilometers  from  Lebanon's border with Israel, Mr. Ahmadinejad railed
   against Israel and predicted it would "disappear."Â  Â
   Tens  of  thousands  of  cheering  supporters  waved large Iranian and
   Lebanese  flags  and  the  yellow  and  green  flag  of  the militant,
   Iranian-backed faction Hezbollah. News reports say Israeli helicopters
   buzzed on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border as he spoke.
   A  spokesman  for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Mark Regev
   has  told  VOA  that  Mr.  Ahmadinejad's visit to the border shows the
   "unfortunate fact" that Lebanon is a "client state of Iran."
   The spokesman says Lebanon could be a potential partner for peace, but
   instead is a "hub for regional terrorism, extremism and instability."
   Bint   Jbeil   was   badly  damaged  during  Israel's  2006  war  with
   Hezbollah.   Iranian money helped rebuild parts of the area destroyed
   during the conflict.
   Later  Thursday,  Mr.  Ahmadinejad  visited a memorial in the Lebanese
   town  of Qana, the site of a 1996 Israeli attack that killed more than
   100  civilians  at  a  U.N.  compound. Israel said the attack occurred
   because of "incorrect targeting based on erroneous data."
   Iranian  state-run  media say Mr. Ahmadinejad told a group of Lebanese
   officials  Thursday  that "enemies" who have been planning to dominate
   the Middle East still have no hope of "gaining victory over Iran."
   On   Wednesday,  the  Iranian  leader  was  greeted  by  thousands  of
   supporters  in Beirut at the start of his visit to Lebanon - his first
   since taking office in 2005.
   Speaking  at  a  rally for Hezbollah, the Iranian president criticized
   Israel,  accusing  it  of  violating  Palestinian  rights.  Hezbollah
   leader  Hassan  Nasrallah,  appearing  by  video  link,  welcomed  Mr.
   Ahmadinejad's assertion that Israel is "illegitimate" and should cease
   to exist.
   U.S.   Secretary   of   State   Hillary   Clinton  has  described  Mr.
   Ahmadinejad's   visit  to  Lebanon,  and  particularly  his  trips  to
   Hezbollah strongholds in the country, as a "volatile situation."

   The United States classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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