Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told al-Joumhouria newspaper what happened during his visit to Beirut's Dahiyeh.

Charbel said he was welcomed in the Bir al-Abed area when he inspected the scene of a car bomb blast and expressed his solidarity with its residents and the injured as well.

"I delivered my statement after inspecting the scene then I explicitly warned of criminal acts aiming at destabilizing the country and inciting Sunni-Shiite strife."

"What happened is that there was a dispute between my bodyguards and some young men who wanted to breach the security provided by them, then few minutes later an argument erupted," Charbel said.

"One of the security members opened fire in the air to disperse the crowds, which led some of them to shout incomprehensible slogans," he told al-Joumhouria daily .

"The security team then took me away from the area," the caretaker minister said.

"I was taken to an apartment in a building, where I waited for 45 minutes until my convoy arrived, and then I left the area as the road was opened," Charbel concluded.

Charbel confirmed that he has received calls from President Suleiman, Speaker Berri and caretaker Prime Minister, PM-designate Salam, Baabda deputies, ministers, friends and figures denouncing "the spontaneous reactions by some citizens."