Lebanon apologised to Denmark on Monday for the burning of its consulate during protests against cartoons of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and the main coalition accused Syria of using the furore to stir Iraq-style sectarian strife.
Sunday's riot in Beirut and similar attacks on Danish and Norwegian missions in Damascus have been among the worst in a world-wide Muslim uproar over the cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in some other European papers.
"The cabinet denounces the riots and the targeting of the Danish Embassy which harms the image of a civilised Lebanon," the government said in a statement after a late-night emergency meeting. "(We) present our apology to the state of Denmark."
Lebanese Christians also expressed anger over the riots by Muslim protesters in the Christian Ashrafiyeh district, during which a church, cars and shops were vandalised.
The anti-Syrian political coalition that holds a majority in parliament and government said senior Syrian officers led by military intelligence chief Asef Shawkat, brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad, were behind the unrest.
It said in a statement that Syrian special forces and Palestinian and Jordanian militants had infiltrated Lebanon and were responsible for the riots.
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