Lebanon has been rigged with political turmoil since the wave of political assassination that hit the country, starting with the fomer Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri, which sparked Western pressure on Syria that led to the withdrawal of its peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.

Tension mounted following the summer war between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, which, although resulted in the death of over 1000 innocent civilians, succeeded in driving the Israeli army out of the country.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria and its allies in the Lebanese government, is pushing for more power in a new Lebanese Cabinet partly to avoid being disarmed by any future government.

The Shia group, which insists it would only lay down arms when Lebanon has a strong enough government and army to defend its borders with Israel, staged massive demonstrations in the country protesting against the current government led by Fouad Siniora, and demanding more than one-third the seats in the Cabinet, enough to give them veto power over key decisions.

PM Siniora and his anti-Syrian supporters, as expected, rejected Hezbollah's demands, calling the campaign a Syrian-backed coup.

Hezbollah on the other hand has hopes that Saudi Arabia could play a mediating role to end the country’s current political crisis.

Like its American allies, Saudi Arabia, has been critical of Hezbollah since its raid, in which two Israeli soldiers were captured, sparked the 34-day war with Israel that resulted in extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure and the death of over 1000 civilians, including many women and children.

Both, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been encouraging Siniora to stand firm, but after the political turmoil in the country intensified raising fears of a slide into sectarian violence that would spread all over the Middle East region, just like the violence in Iraq threatens to destabilise the entire region, Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz began recently calling on Lebanese leaders to negotiate with the aim of reaching a solution to their political crisis. Prince Sultan’s call came after Lebanon's opposition wanred it would expand street protests to topple the government, believed to be backed Saudi Arabia.

"We fear some of the incidents that Lebanon is going through represent dangerous turning points that threaten its economic and political security and stability," Prince Sultan told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published yesterday.

"I want to take this opportunity to urge the brothers in Lebanon for self-restraint and rational dialogue and to put wisdom above emotion and work to unite Lebanese ranks and return to the legitimate constitutional institutions."

It’s been reported that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah held talks with a senior Hezbollah leader last week in his first such contact with the Iranian-backed group with the aim of reaching a solution to the current tensions.

As said Beirut analyst Rami Khouri "Lebanon is the epicenter, at least in symbolic terms," of the Middle East.

So far the tension between the Shia opposition and the Lebanese government is peaceful, but it may not stay so as tension descends into mass protests in the country that is split between those who are for Western intervention and others who are against it.

The rivalry between Shia Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, and the Lebanese government is not merely sectarian as portrayed by the Western media, it’s basically due to the government’s ties to the U.S. and the West.

But the question here is can Saudi Arabia play such mediating role to end the country’s crisis? knowing it’s a key U.S. ally in the region.

Mohammed Fneish, energy minister in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government before he and five other pro-Syrian ministers resigned in November, told As-Safir newspaper that "Saudi Arabia can play the role of mediator between the Lebanese."

About the meeting between him, Hezbollah number two Sheikh Naim Kassem and King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia in December, Fneish said:

"The Jeddah meeting was positive, especially on rapprochement between the kingdom and Hezbollah," adding that it was "the first of its kind" between a Saudi monarch and Hezbollah.

"Saudi Arabia can use its influence to end all discord" between Sunni Muslims and Shias, he said.

Saudi Arabia, a regional heavyweight, is close to the leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, Saad Hariri, whose former premier father Rafiq had Saudi citizenship and was an intimate friend to the Saudi royal family.

Saudi Arabia, also believed to have close ties with Syria, played an important role in persuading Damascus to agree to start cooperation with the UN probe into Hariri's killing.

Saudi Arabia’s role can also be counterbalance to Iran and its influence, thus limit the ability of certain circles in Tehran to further destabilize Lebanon and the entire region.

Saudi Arabia has a strategic interest in reigning in Iran and has the power to do so, given its influence as the world's central banker of energy which makes it the economic powerhouse of the Middle East.

Being the world's largest oil exporter, coupled with the fact that it is the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites, Saudi Arabia has considerable influence over Iran, Syria, and the Sunni Arab majority.