Beirut bomb sparks protests, fears of Syria war spreading

[NewsCaster]

Hussein Malla / APProtesters march on Saturday in the Achrafieh neighborhood a day after a car bomb attack that killed Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan and at least seven others in Beirut, Lebanon.By NBC News staff and wireBEIRUT - Protesters burned tires and set up roadblocks around Lebanon on Saturday in a sign of boiling anger over a massive car bomb that killed a top security official and seven other people a day earlier — a devastating attack that threatened to spread Syria's civil war to Lebanon.

In the eastern Bekaa Valley region, the Lebanese army opened fire on a group who were blocking a road to protest the bomb attack, wounding two people.

"The Lebanese army were trying to open the road and started firing their guns," a witness from the village of Bar Elias, told The Associated Press.

 NBC News producer Paul Nassar reported an unusual calm had swept over Beirut.

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