KFAR KILA, LEBANON – Southern Lebanese citizens are brimming with excitement in anticipation of Iranian President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon on October 13 and 14 at the invitation of Lebanese President Michael Sleiman.

Ahmadinejad is expected to tour the border region that Lebanon shares with his heated enemy, Israel, which many are calling a defiant action on the part of the Iranian president.

“I can’t wait to see Ahmadinejad get close to the barbed wire and show the Israelis that he has them by the throat,” said a man named Abdullah, of the border village of Kfar Kila, who refused to give his real name.

“Can you imagine? He is going to stand barely a meter from Israel and that’s so symbolic.”

The trip will be Ahmadinejad’s first to Lebanon since he became president of Iran and the scheduled border visit along the south part of the country by Hizbullah has created a sense of nervous anticipation.

Members of the country’s pro-Western parliamentary majority group have called the visit to the borders a provocation, especially considering tensions resulting over unconfirmed reports that a United Nations-backed tribunal is set to charge Hizbullah members in connection with the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the father of the current prime minister, Saad Hariri.

Washington officials have expressed concern over the visit of Ahmadinejad as they continue their lengthy dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy plans while Israel likened the visit to “a big landowner coming to inspect his property.”

Iranian flags and huge banners with a picture of Ahmadinejad along with a welcoming message in Arabic and Farsi have been placed along the highway leading to Beirut’s international airport in anticipation of his visit. The leader’s portraits can also be seen in Hizbullah’s stronghold in the southern part of Beirut.

Ahmadinejad is expected to visit the village of Qana, which suffered greatly in 1996 when a UN safe compound was shelled, and in 2006 after a three-story home was struck; numerous Lebanese civilians were killed in both attacks. Most of the villages in the area were destroyed during the 2006 war by Israel.

He is also due to help in the opening of a tourist park named “Iran Garden” in the nearby village of Marun al-Ras, which was funded by Iran and includes a small reproduction of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque topped with an Iranian flag.

A visit to a war museum built by Hizbullah in the Southern Lebanese town of Mlita is also part of the visit according to reports.

“We owe our survival to Iran,” said Taleb, a resident of Bint Jbeil who owns an auto parts shop. “Ahmadinejad is a real man of faith.”

Iran heavily financed the reconstruction of southern Lebanon after the 2006 war and more recently also said it was ready to provide military aid if needed.

“Iran helped us more than the Lebanese state,” said Khadijeh, 70, a resident of Qana who hoped to thank the Iranian president personally.

The man who asked to be named as Abdullah also said nothing could stop the president’s visit to the volatile region along the border considering the power Iran holds in the region.

Also scheduled during the trip is a rally in Ahmadinejad’s honor at Al-Raya Stadium in southern Beirut which holds about 40,000 people, with an appearance from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah expected, whether in person or through a video link for security reasons.  Nasrallah last appeared in public in July 2008.

But in other cities such as Marjayoun in the southeast, which has a mix of Christian and Muslim residents, the visit is seen as an unnecessary danger to the region.

“The situation is already tense in Lebanon and why raise that tension further?” asked Rami, a Christian shop owner.

Added Salwa, a 50-year-old baker: “This visit can provoke the Israelis and end up dangerous for us.”