Ahmadinejad Praises Lebanese Resistance; Demands Investigations Into 9/11

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, praised Lebanese resistance against Israel's "aggression", and reportedly held the United States responsible for 9/11, insisting on finding out the "truth".

Ahmadinejad received a warm welcome upon his arrival in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, with hundreds of followers of the Hezbollah movement lining the streets to greet him, as he started his two-day official visit to Lebanon.

Assuring his country's full support to Lebanese resistance to the Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad demanded complete freedom for occupied territories in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

"As long as (Israeli) aggression exists in the region, we will not see stability", the hard-line Iranian president said during a joint press conference with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman after signing agreements on water, energy, tourism, health and several other sectors.

Speaking to a late-night gathering, Ahmadinejad said that the entire population of this region and the world calls for the establishment of a neutral and independent body to "examine the facts and discover the truth" of 9/11 attacks.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opposed any attempt by the Iranian president to violate the sovereignty of Lebanon, and warned him to not issue statements that could destabilize or raise tensions in Lebanon.

The White House said that Ahmadinejad's "provocative" trip to Lebanon showed that Hezbollah cares about Iran more than the Lebanese people. "I think that it also suggests that Hezbollah values its allegiance to Iran over its allegiance to the Lebanon", said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs.