Saudi Arabia has called for an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers to try to halt the violence in Lebanon, whose capital was rocked by a third day of sectarian fighting on Friday.

"In light of the dangerous escalation of the situation on the Lebanese scene, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports holding an urgent and extraordinary meeting of the Arab League ministerial council in Cairo to discuss the Lebanese crisis and its fallout," a foreign ministry official was quoted by the state SPA news agency as saying.

The call was issued overnight as Lebanon teetered on the brink of civil war with the capital wracked by fighting between militants of the Shiite Hezbollah opposition and Sunnis loyal to the Western-backed government, which is also supported by Saudi Arabia.