Argentine Muslim and left-wing groups are planning anti-Shimon Peres demonstrations to condemn his visit and the 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli president arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday night for a day-and-a-half long state visit and was welcomed by Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana.

Peres' visit comes amid stalled Middle East peace negotiations and only days before Palestinian Authority acting chief Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Argentina.

Palestinians have announced that they plan to ask the United Nations to recognize their independence.

The Israeli president is scheduled to meet his counterpart Cristina Kirchner on Monday. Kirchner has been pushing for fresh negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians and has strongly condemned the illegal Israeli settlement policy in the occupied territories.

Peres' visit to Argentina, home to Latin America's biggest Jewish community, is the first by an Israeli president in 20 years.

A delegation of Associations of Jewish Argentines said one of Peres' chief reasons for visiting is to offset the growing Iranian influence in the region.

Last week Peres visited Brazil, where demonstrators, calling him “war criminal”, voiced strong disapproval of his visit and of Tel Aviv's crimes against humanity during the 22-day military assault on the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Argentine activists plan to hold demonstrations against Peres' visit outside the Israeli Embassy in the Argentine capital on Monday.

FTP/HGL