Hosted by Hezbollah, leftist professor Noam Chomsky ended his visit to Lebanon with a tour of Al-Khiam Prison where he declared the group's success in removing Israel from the south was "a victory for all the peoples that fight injustice and oppression."

In a broadcast by Hezbollah's Al Manar television Sunday, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Chomsky was shown embracing Hezbollah leader Nabil Qauq at Al-Khiam, where Israel kept prisoners during its occupation of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah was credited with liberating the area after Israel withdrew in 2000. Hezbollah Sec.-Gen.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah frequently calls for destruction of the U.S. In a February speech aired on Al Manar, he led a crowd in chants, "America, America you are the Great Satan … America, America, the enemy of the Muslims … Those who have come at night, like bats, will hear Lebanon saying: Death to America."

On Saturday, Al Manar quoted Chomsky responding to Hezbollah's designation by the U.S. as a terrorist state. The professor said that "if the U.S. was to stick to the clear and precise definition of terrorism in its code of laws, it would be the leading terrorist state."

Al Manar said Sunday Chomsky insisted on staying inside one of the prison cells for a short while: "He commended the perseverance of the inmates during the years of cruelty and pain, stressing that this prison was no different from Guantanamo."

The news reader said the "leftist intellectual chose to stand in front of a destroyed Israeli vehicle and declare that all the prisoners in the world must be released, whether in Israel or in American prisons."

Chomsky was asked about Lebanese expatriates who recently honored U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. "Well, you know, they have their own choices to make. There is pressure they have to deal with," he said.

"When Japan occupied Asia and committed atrocities there, some Asians honored Japan because they were subject to imperialism."

A reporter asked Chomsky how the U.S. views his visit.

"I don't know what their response will be, and I don't care," he said. Referring to Israel, Chomsky said, "The imperialistic forces do whatever they want, and as long as Washington allows them to do so, they will continue, until the American people learn about it and stop them."

On Saturday, Chomsky said Hezbollah's insistence on keeping its arms is justified "I think Nasrallah has a reasoned argument and [a] persuasive argument that [the arms] should be in the hands of Hezbollah as a deterrent to potential aggression, and there is plenty of background reasons for that," he said.

Chomsky asserted that "until there is a general political settlement in the region, [and] the threat of aggression and violence is reduced or eliminated, there has to be a deterrent, and the Lebanese army can't be a deterrent."