"This is an organized attempt to take advantage of Muslim anger for purposes that do not serve the interests of Muslims and Lebanon, but those of others beyond the border," Mouawad said.

The riot began when a huge demonstration against the publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammed in European newspapers went out of control. Protesters burned the building housing the Danish consulate, hurled stones at a nearby church and damaged cars and buildings.

Seventy-seven out of the 192 rioters detained on Sunday are Syrian nationals, An Nahar reported on Monday. The others are 42 Palestinians, 48 Lebanese and 25 Bedouins.

According to Al Hayat newspaper, most of the Palestinian detainees belong to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, which is headed by the Damascus-based Ahmed Jibril.

The pro-Syrian group maintains a network of tunnels and arms caches in Naameh, south of Beirut. Last month, one of its gunmen shot and wounded two municipality employees, an incident that caused uproar and led to calls for banning Palestinian weapons outside refugee camps.

Other Palestinians arrested for taking part in the riots belong to radical Islamist groups in Ain al-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared refugee camps, according to the London-based daily.

Mouawad's request to raise the issue of Syrian interference in Lebanon was backed by Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi and Minister of the Displaced Nehmeh Tohme.

Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon last year under international pressure, but Damascus is believed to wield considerable influence within the country after a 29-year military presence.

Many officials say the Beirut riots may well have been a spillover of the trouble in Damascus.

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora alluded to the possibility of a Syrian role. "It is as if they (the Syrian riots) were a lesson to some in Lebanon to do the same," Saniora said in reference to the burning of the Danish embassy in Damascus.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat also said it was strange that only in Lebanon and Syria demonstrations against the cartoons depicting the prophet turned so out of control.

And Lebanon's Sunni Muslim spiritual leader, Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, spoke of infiltrators whose aim was to "harm the stability of Lebanon." He did not elaborate, but many Lebanese see the hand of Syria in the riots.(Naharnet-AP)