Saudi FM urges rival Lebanese parties to sit down for dialogue in bid to resolve political crisis.

RIYADH - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Monday there was a chance of reconciliation in the political crisis in Lebanon and urged rival groups to talk.

"We see a chance that the Lebanese parties will put their country's interest above all else," Saud told Arab League counterparts meeting in Riyadh ahead of an Arab summit opening Wednesday.

"We urge the Lebanese to sit down for a dialogue," he said.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to resolve a months-long political crisis in Lebanon between the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the opposition led by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is backed by both Syria and Iran.

Leaders of the parliamentary majority, who are close to Saudi Arabia, and the opposition recently held a series of meetings to end the standoff which began when six pro-Syrian ministers walked out of the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in November.

Efforts to end the stalemate were stepped up after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed the crisis with King Abdullah during a landmark visit to Saudi Arabia on March 3.

But the meetings in Beirut failed to yield a breakthrough.

Lebanon is expected to be represented by two separate delegations at the summit.

But pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud said on Friday that he would not form Lebanon's delegation until the last minute in the hope that agreement will be reached on the formation of a unity government. -Agencies