A Lebanese court has handed a man known as the "Captagon King" a seven-year sentence with hard labor for producing and trafficking the illegal drug, a judicial source told AFP.

This is the first time a major drug baron is convicted in a captagon case in Lebanon. 

The British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamish Cowell, has visited the city of Tripoli for the first time. The visit aimed at understating the impact of the socioeconomic crisis on Tripolitans, and how UK funded projects are supporting livelihoods and community cohesion, the British Embassy said in a statement.

Ambassador Cowell met a range of individuals working to promote reconciliation, social cohesion and opportunities for young people in Lebanon’s second city, the statement said. This included the Tripoli Mayor Engineer Ahmad Kamareddine, security officials, project partners and beneficiaries, and U.N. agencies.

Lebanon has been without a president for over a month, its legislators unable to agree on a new head of state.

The impasse is holding up a range of initiatives, from putting into place structural reforms for an International Monetary Fund program to allowing the country's state-owned television channel to broadcast the World Cup.

The Free Patriotic Movement on Thursday issued a rare statement criticizing its ally Hezbollah by name in connection with the controversy over the latest caretaker cabinet session.

“The last thing we wanted was to engage in a media exchange with Hezbollah, but the truth obliges us to clarify it and say that what was mentioned in the statement of Hezbollah’s media relations department was very ambiguous and carried a contradiction between keenness on the unanimity of the government’s components in taking decisions while not applying this to the attendance of sessions,” the FPM’s central media and communication committee said in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday that he would turn next week’s presidential election session into a parliamentary dialogue if the blocs agree to such a move.

“I will explore the opinion of all colleagues and parliamentary blocs regarding the issue of dialogue. If it turns out to be positive, I will turn next Thursday’s session into a dialogue session in parliament,” Berri said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday denied a media report claiming that he had mediated with security agencies to prevent the arrest of the actress Stephanie Saliba at the Rafik Hariri International Airport.

“What al-Akhbar newspaper has reported about an interference by PM Mikati in a file related to Ms. Stephanie Saliba is totally baseless,” Mikati’s press office said in a statement.

Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Director General Fadi al-Hassan on Thursday denied a media report claiming that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard might take advantage of the flights of Iranian airline Meraj to transfer arms and sensitive equipment to Hezbollah.

“This report is baseless,” al-Hassan told al-Jadeed television.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Thursday that any presidential candidate backed by Hezbollah would lead to "a further collapse."

Geagea reiterated his categorical rejection to the election of Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil or Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc might vote for its member MP Ibrahim Kanaan in the upcoming presidential election session, MP Salim Aoun said on Thursday.

“The FPM has several choices, including MP Ibrahim Kanaan, but they are not limited to him,” Aoun said, in an interview with Radio Voice of All Lebanon.

Hezbollah on Thursday hit back at betrayal accusations by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, noting that it had not promised anyone that “the caretaker cabinet would not convene except after all its components agree on the meeting.”

“We do not want to engage in a debate with any of our friends, although a lot of what was mentioned in (ex-)Minister Bassil’s remarks requires a discussion. However, we find ourselves concerned with commenting on two issues in light of the need to clarify them to the public opinion,” Hezbollah’s media relations unit said in a statement.