Syrian kidnapping of Lebanese pilgrims raises fears conflict will cross border Lebanese protesters burn tyres and boxes during a protest in Beirut over the kidnapping in Syria. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA Syrian rebels kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shias and their Syrian driver in northern Syria on Tuesday, adding to fears that Lebanon is being drawn into the chaos next door, Syria's state-run Sana news agency reported last night. The victims were on their way home from a religious pilgrimage in Iran when rebels intercepted their vehicles in Syria's Aleppo province. Women travelling in the group were released. As the news of the kidnappings spread, residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Shiite area, took to the streets and burned tyres and blocked roads in protest. The leader of Hezbollah, a strong ally of the Syrian regime, appealed for calm and warned his followers against revenge attacks targeting Syrians. "Blocking roads or carrying out any act of violence or individual action will not help this case at all," said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in a statement broadcast on Lebanese TV. Within hours, the Syrian government began moving into Azaz in Aleppo province, where the abductions took place, activists said. The kidnappings come at a time of high tension in Lebanon over the 15-month-old conflict in Syria. Lebanon navigates a fragile faultline over Syria, which had troops on the ground in Lebanon for nearly 30 years until 2005 and still has strong ties to Lebanon's security services. The countries share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which can quickly turn violent. On Sunday, an anti-Syrian cleric was killed in northern Lebanon, setting off a night of deadly street battles in Beirut. It was some of the worst fighting seen in the Lebanese capital in four years. At least two people were killed and 15 wounded. Sunnis form the backbone of the Syrian uprising, which has unleashed seething sectarian tensions.