Israelis were on Thursday warily watching their northern border for a rare opportunity to see up-close the arch-enemy of the Jewish state, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian president, who is on a two-day trip to Lebanon, was expected to conduct a controversial tour of the southern border region during the afternoon for a visit which has been slammed by the United States and Israel as "provocative."

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra noted on Thursday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad adopted Hizbullah's position towards the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in that he viewed it as a political tool being used against the party.

He told Voice of Lebanon radio that the Iranian leader's visit took on two facets, the first, where he visited the Lebanese state, was distinguished with seriousness and moderation, the second, where he visited Dahiyeh, was distinguished by his adoption of Hizbullah's views.

Mustaqbal Movement member former MP Mustapha Alloush stressed on Thursday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon greatly provoked the majority of the Lebanese, especially since he supports Hizbullah militarily, financially, and morally.

He told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa Thursday that the above gives the visit a provocative trait making the Lebanese uneasy with the results of the Iranian leader's trip.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon indicates Hizbullah's dependence on Iran was growing, adding that Israel must remain vigilant.

"Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon reflects Hizbullah's growing dependence on Iran," Barak said as he toured the Golan Heights on Wednesday.

President Michel Suleiman will head to Switzerland on Tuesday to take part in the 13th Francophone summit to be held in the Lake Geneva town of Montreux despite an upset over the Nov 29 Swiss ban on minaret construction.

The International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) comprises 56 member states and governments, 3 associate members, and 14 observers.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said she rejects any efforts to destabilize Lebanon after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut for a controversial visit.

"The United States supports the integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. We reject any efforts to destabilize or inflame tensions within Lebanon," Clinton said in Kosovo where she was meeting political leaders on her two-day tour of the Balkans.

The March 14 forces issued an open letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the occasion of his visit to Lebanon in which it hoped that the visit would "support our sovereign and independent country as well as our way of life, just as your predecessor's visit, President Mohammad Khatami, did and touched all the Lebanese hearts."

It stressed: "A group of Lebanese takes its strength from you and abuses it against the others, as well as against the state in an attempt to restore absurd and unfortunate adventures executed by different non-Lebanese parties successively for decades. This is half of the bitter truth. Its other half is that you are attempting to interfere, just like others that came before you, in our affairs, where foreign interference was only used to manipulate Lebanon internally; the big slogans and the good intentions could not block the actual truth of this use.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut Wednesday to a warm welcome and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman acknowledged that Iran has the right to peaceful nuclear energy use.

Huge crowds gathered in the streets of Beirut to welcome Ahmadinejad as he arrived Wednesday morning on a controversial visit that will take him to the doorstep of arch-foe Israel.

A bomb exploded at dawn Wednesday under the car of a pro-Hizbullah Sunni cleric in the northern city of Tripoli, just hours ahead of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit, security sources said. No casualties were reported.

They said the explosion targeted the car of Sheikh Mustafa Malas, Imam Minyeh Mosque.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut Wednesday to a warm welcome.

Huge crowds gathered in the streets of Beirut to welcome Ahmadinejad as he arrived on a controversial visit that will take him to the doorstep of arch-foe Israel.