Addressing thousands of cheering supporters in Bint Jbeil, scene of fierce fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers in 2006, Ahmadinejad said the town was a symbol of resistance to Israel.

"The world should know the Zionists are mortal ... today the Lebanese nation is alive and is a role model for the regional nations," the Iranian president said.

Ahmadinejad, who has called for the Israeli state to be wiped from the map, told Lebanon's government on Wednesday that Iran would support it in confronting Israeli hostility.

Bint Jbeil is just 4 km from the border and Israel's Channel 2 Television said echoes of Ahmadinejad's welcome ceremony were audible on the Israeli side minutes before he arrived.

The town was heavily bombed in the 34-day conflict four years ago and most of the houses around the stadium where Ahmadinejad spoke had been rebuilt since then.

"I announce that Bint Jbeil is alive and is standing. The world should know that Bint Jbeil is proud and will stand against the enemies till the end," Ahmadinejad said. "They (the enemies) have no way but surrender to the nations and go back to their first homes ... Palestine will ... be freed."

The United States said Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon showed he was continuing his "provocative ways".

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Ahmadinejad had brought a message of "violence and extremism". "It is a deeply concerning development that he is transforming Lebanon into a platform for his aggressive plans against Israel and against other countries in the region," Palmor said.

Ahamdinejad's speech in Bint Jbeil has strong symbolism. In 2000, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a victory speech there two days after Israel ended 22 years of occupation of south Lebanon.

Iranian flags and posters lined the main roads leading to Bint Jbeil and at the entrance to the town a giant banner read "welcome" in Farsi and Arabic.

Signs on billboards and banners said: "The south welcomes the protector of the resistance".

Schoolchildren handed out leaflets on the best route to Bint Jbeil. Ali Daboush, a 35-year-old who works in the Gulf, said he traveled home to Lebanon just to see the Iranian leader. "He liberated this land. It was thanks to him," Daboush told The Associated Press.

The Iranian leader was also visiting the village of Qana, where an Israeli airstrike in 2006 killed dozens. In 1996, Israeli artillery killed more than 100 Lebanese civilians in Qana.

An AP reporter saw two Israeli attack helicopters hovering above the Israeli border town of Moshav Avivim. But otherwise, Israeli military presence near the town appeared minimal. The military declined comment.

Residents in Moshav Avivim showed little interest in his visit. Children played freely outside, and residents largely went about their daily business. On an Israeli road leading up to the border area, a few onlookers stopped their cars to snap pictures or peer through binoculars at the other side.

"We're not excited about his visit. We don't get alarmed about anything around here. Ahmadinejad is a big coward," said resident Rafi Peretz. "Why does he come only 3,000 meters from us? Why doesn't he come here?" Despite the bravado, Israelis were clearly concerned by the arrival of Ahmadinejad, a leader who has denied the Holocaust, called for Israel's destruction and who is the key backer of Israel's most bitter enemies.

"This is a strong provocation by the president of Iran that he bothers to come to southern Lebanon it shows how much he is in control here," said Shimon Biton, the head of the local town council.