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Iranian leader greeted with military honors in Bolivia |
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Updated at:
0100
PST, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 |
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LA PAZ: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Bolivia for a short visit Tuesday on the second leg of a Latin America tour of three leftist nations sympathetic to his administration.
President Evo Morales greeted Ahmadinejad at the airport with full military honors before accompanying to the center of La Paz.
There, a small group of feminists held a protest over Iran's treatment of women in front of the presidential palace as Ahmadinejad and Morales headed inside for talks.
The leaders oversaw the signing of a deal that would see Iran involved in mining research in Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, a vast salt desert near the Chilean border that holds half the world's known reserves of lithium -- a key mineral used in rechargeable batteries for cell phones, laptops and electric cars.
French, Japanese and South Korean companies are competing to invest in the area, estimated to contain up to 100 million tons of lithium.
The Iranian leader began his itinerary on Monday in Brazil, where his host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated support for Iran's controversial nuclear energy program. |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
