Ahmadinejad welcomes Senegal President

The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has welcomed Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, to Tehran.

Wade arrived in the Iranian capital at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation on Saturday morning.

He was first welcomed by Iran’s Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, Sadeq Khalilian, at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport and was officially welcomed by his Iranian counterpart at the presidential office.

The Senegalese chief executive came to Tehran from Bahrain’s capital, Manama and will fly to Paris tonight.

The two presidents are scheduled to discuss the current situation in Palestine, the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and Israeli war crimes. They are also expected to hold talks about bilateral ties behind closed doors.

Tensions have been high between the Palestinians and Israelis after a group of Jewish radicals broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and attacked Palestinians. About 16 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, according to media reports.

The incident triggered demonstrations in the Palestinian territories and Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, has called on Islamic nations to support the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“Islamic nations should fulfill their moral and religious duties to support Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Haniyeh said, adding that the “real Al-Aqsa Mosque fight has started and Arab and Islamic nations should feel responsible for what’s going on.”

Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, expressed disapproval over the incursion by Israeli extremists and called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to force it to halt such violations.