Beirut  - Thousands of protesters from various Palestinian and Lebanese groups demonstrated Friday in front the Egyptian Embassy in the capital Beirut to protest what they described as "the Arab stand" towards the Gaza attack.

"Where are the Arabs? What is this silence?", read one of the placards carried by the protesters.

The crowd carried coffins wrapped in black and Palestinian flags while they moved through the streets from the United Nations headquarters towards the Egyptian embassy.

The demonstrators staged a sit-in in front of the UN headquarters in downtown Beirut.

Several Lebanese humanitarian organizations also took part in the sit-in and handed a memorandum addressed to the UN Security Council, calling on it to intervene and stop the bloodshed.

The Lebanese army and police cut all roads leading to the Egyptian embassy as the angry crowd approached the area. Anti-riot police monitored the area.

Security has been tightened at the Egyptian embassy since the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip began, with dozens of soldiers and other security forces deployed.

The protesters, were kept several hundred metres from the building in the Bir Hassan area, where other Arab embassies are also located.

Protesters lashed out at Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak and urged his country to allow freedom of movement for Palestinians.

Egypt, which has served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians as well as between the radical Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip and its rival Fatah, has been criticized for joining Israel in closing its borders with Gaza.

In Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, angry demonstrators stoned several shops, prompting the army to immediately disperse the protest and arrested at least three protestors.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora on Friday accused Israel of trying to drag Lebanon into the Gaza conflict.

Keeping "Lebanon non-aligned in the Gaza crisis" was necessary, he said, adding that the current situation should be considered a lesson to all Arab countries to build solidarity against Israel.

He also said he hoped the prospective visit of an Arab delegation, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to UN headquarters in New York would result in agreement for an immediate ceasefire and prevent clashes.

Seniora, who also met with ambassadors and members of the UN Security Council, said Lebanon's stance was united toward the Palestinian cause and toward Arab efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire, open the borders and implement the Arab Peace Initiative. (dpa)