Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said in Paris on Friday that he fears the consequences of the Lebanese opposition protests, calling them unreasonable and warning they could split the nation apart.

Mubarak was in the French capital to inaugurate a major exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts from underwater excavations and was to hold a working lunch with French President Jacques Chirac. Tensions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, as well as the expulsion this week of eight French terror suspects detained by Egyptian authorities, were expected to top the leaders' agenda.

Mubarak, speaking on France-3 television, said the Lebanese protests were "not reasonable" and urged negotiations between the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah protesters.

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"I fear the consequences," Mubarak said. "There is also the risk of foreign interference in these protests. That could result in very serious confrontations and even lead to the destruction of Lebanon."

Street demonstrations that started a week ago by Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian parties are aimed at pressuring Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to quit in a deepening political crisis. The crisis also has taken dangerous sectarian overtones.

In his speech at the exhibit inauguration, Chirac praised Mubarak, saying the Egyptian president had "made the choice for reforms with determination."

"Following my visit to your country last April, I am convinced that Egypt is on the road to a dynamic and modern future," Chirac said.

Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, has launched some reforms but is facing criticism for apparently grooming his son to replace him.

Chirac and Mubarak, who have had close ties for over two decades, meet regularly. They last met in Egypt in April.

The "Sunken Treasures of Egypt" brings together about 500 statues, ceramics and other antiquities excavated from three undersea sites on the Nile delta and off the ancient port city of Alexandria.

The exhibition, which includes several collosal statues in pink granite, as well as stone sphinx and pharaoh heads, runs through mid-March at the recently restored Grand Palais in Paris. The objects are then to be returned to Egypt.

While some of the artifacts, which date back to 700 B.C., were slowly swallowed by the Mediterranean as sea levels rose, others sunk during tidal waves.

They were recovered during ten years of excavation and restoration by the
Paris-based European Institute of Submarine Archaeology.

Friday's meeting coincided with arrival in France of eight Frenchmen expelled along with two Belgians on a charter flight for Brussels Thursday.

Egyptian authorities arrested the suspects - as well as another Frenchman, an American, and an unknown number of Egyptians and Arabs from other countries - late last month. The suspects were allegedly living in Egypt under the guise of studying Arabic and Islamic studies and had formed a militant cell that was plotting attacks, Egyptian officials said.

The French suspects were brought from Brussels to Paris by car. Upon their arrival early Friday morning, the Paris police's anti-terrorist division immediately took the men into custody for questioning. Under French law, they can be held without charges for up to four days.