Riyadh - Saudi Arabia urged Thursday Lebanese powers behind the current escalation to reconsider their moves and warned them against serving the interests of "foreign forces of extremism".

"The kingdom is following with extreme concern and resentment the current regrettable escalation in Lebanon," an official statement carried by the Saudi SPA news agency said.

Saudi Arabia, a power broker with clout among Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, urged powers standing behind the escalation "to reconsider their calculations."

Riyadh warned those powers against "pushing Lebanon into a blind strife, which will only be a victory for foreign forces of extremism."

Those forces have prevented all efforts aimed at solving the political standoff in Lebanon and obstructed the Arab League initiative, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia's warning is directed at Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah whose loyalists are now embroiled in a confrontation with Sunni supporters of Lebanon's US and Saudi-backed government in the eastern Bekaa valley.

On Wednesday, the rivals clashed in areas inside the capital wounding at least 10 people.

In Beirut, residents awoke Thursday to a new reality of fresh demarcation lines as streets in Beirut were being closed in several neighbourhoods.

The road to the nation's only airport remained sealed off for a second day and the facility is now officially closed to aircraft.

The US and Saudi Arabia have blamed the current escalation in Lebanon on Iran and Syria. (dpa)