Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not hurl a stone towards Israel from Lebanon
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not hurl a stone at Israel during his visit to Lebanon next week, Lebanese diplomats have said.
“He will go south, but his visit will be only to Qana and Bint Jubail,” Lebanese daily Aliwaa reported on Thursday, but without naming its sources.
Reports surfaced last week that Ahmadinejad will inaugurate a park in Bawabat Fatima, a borderline town, and hurl a stone at nearby Israel in a highly symbolic gesture of his rejection of Lebanon’s southern neighbour.
The US on Tuesday said Tuesday it had raised concerns with Lebanese authorities about the visit to southern Lebanon and possible incidents along the volatile Lebanon-Israel border.
The State Department said that it acknowledged Lebanon’s sovereign right to invite whatever foreign leader it chooses to visit the country, but added that it questioned “the wisdom of reported plans by Lebanese authorities to allow the Iranian leader to visit the tense border area.”
However, the Iranians dismissed the reports as part of a smear campaign against their leader and insisted that Tehran was keen on upholding the Lebanese official protocol.
“Arrangements for his visit will be similar to those for Qatari Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani when he went south in company of Lebanese president Michel Salman,” the sources said.
According to the paper, the Iranians have been keen on not embarrassing their hosts during the visit and added that Ahmadinejad will receive Lebanon’s prominent political leaders and party heads at a hotel in Beirut.
