BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon will be represented by two rival delegations at this week's Arab summit, highlighting the failure of Saudi-backed efforts to resolve the country's political crisis, Lebanese officials said on Monday.

The nearly five-month-old Lebanese crisis is set to feature promptly at the summit but there are no hopes that it would resolve the rift between Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government and the opposition, which includes Hezbollah.

Siniora and his allies, who are backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States, have rejected demands by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies for veto power in cabinet.

Talks between leaders from both camps held under Saudi pressure this month failed to find a compromise. The Saudis had hoped the rivals would strike a deal before the March 28-29 Riyadh summit, removing tensions over Lebanon at the meeting.

Instead, Siniora will now head his own delegation to the summit to rival that of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who is in the opposition's corner.

They will make different recommendations on Lebanon to the summit, political sources said. A similar arrangement at the Arab summit last year led to heated arguments.

"This is what the Saudis did not want -- two Lebanese delegations and a raging crisis in Lebanon to distract and cast a shadow on the summit," one Lebanese political source said.

One positive that Lebanon could get at the summit -- other than general solidarity gestures -- is a rapprochement between King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The two leaders back different factions in Lebanon and improved ties between their countries could help Lebanon after the summit, political sources said.

Saudi-Syrian relations plunged last year after Assad described Arab leaders who had criticised Hezbollah during its July-August war against Israel as "half men".

Recent statements by Syrian officials said Assad had not been referring to Arab leaders and the Syrian president praised King Abdullah at an interview last week.

Lahoud says Siniora's government is unconstitutional after all Shi'ite Muslim ministers quit last November in protest at the prime minister's rejection of the opposition's demands.

Siniora and his allies say Lahoud's term was extended for three years in 2004 on the orders of Syria and refuse to deal with him.

The opposition wants veto power in a national unity government and early parliamentary elections. Its activists have camped out in central Beirut near Siniora's headquarters since Dec. 1 to press their demands. -Reuters