"The storm in Syria has reached Lebanon now; there is no going back"

From AFP/Daily Star:

Lebanon's president held urgent talks with security chiefs and ministers Thursday after an eruption of violence in Beirut, including mass kidnappings, over events in neighboring Syria.

Several Gulf states ordered their nationals Wednesday to leave Lebanon, with the United Arab Emirates warning that the situation was “very dangerous.”

A Shi’ite Muslim clan claimed Wednesday it had kidnapped 33 Syrians and a Turkish man after a family member was kidnapped this week by a Syrian rebel group which accused him of being a Hezbollah sniper.

And dozens more Syrians were kidnapped and their shops vandalized by rioters in Shi'ite areas of Beirut on Wednesday, according to the state-run National News Agency.

“What happened today is a clear indication that we are [on] the brink of major chaos in Lebanon,” a senior political source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star Thursday.

“The storm in Syria has reached Lebanon now and there is no going back,” the source added.