Egypt fears Lebanon battlefield if protests continue

CAIRO, Dec 2 (Reuters) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said today he feared continued street demonstrations, especially if they became sectarian, could turn Lebanon into a battlefield.

Yesterday hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah-led protesters rallied in Beirut to try to force the resignation of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's US-backed government. The protest continued today.

''Wisdom is required in dealing with internal differences,'' Mubarak told journalists in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he was meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

''What I fear is that if the demonstrations continue, and take on a sectarian form, supporters of these sects from outside Lebanon will join in and no one will be able to control it, especially if it continues for a long time.'' Mubarak, an ally of Washington in the Middle East, said he was worried outside forces could exacerbate the situation.

''And the result will be a transformation of Lebanon into a battlefield that subjects it to danger,'' he said.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful Shi'ite Muslim group, and its pro-Syrian allies had called on Lebanese from across the country to take part in the protest in the capital Beirut, to be followed by an indefinite sit-in.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has branded the government a US puppet.

Hezbollah has been at loggerheads with Siniora's government over what it says was its failure to back the group during the July-August war with Israel.

REUTERS PDM HS1849