All eyes will be on Istanbul on Thursday to hear Prime Minister Tammam Salam's speech at the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and observe the result of the meetings that he will hold there following a deterioration of ties between Lebanon and Gulf nations.

Salam traveled to Istanbul on Wednesday to take part in the 13th conference of the OIC. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and Environment Minister Mohammed Mashnouq.

Lebanon has expressed reservations to labeling Hizbullah a terrorist organization in the final statement that is expected to be issued by around 30 heads of state and government from Islamic countries gathering in Istanbul.

As Safir daily said Thursday that Algeria, Iran and Indonesia backed Lebanon while Iraq's representative at the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said he will review his leadership to take the appropriate stance.

Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed Wednesday that he will not reverse his decision on resigning from Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government.

“I insist on my resignation and I will not reverse my decision because I no longer belong to the current government,” said Rifi in an interview with MTV.

An Israeli army force crossed the line of withdrawal, or Blue Line, in the South on Wednesday and attempted to kidnap a Lebanese shepherd, the Lebanese army said.

Hizbullah condemned Wednesday the “vicious” assassination of Fatah Movement top official Fathi Zaidan in Sidon on Tuesday, warning that it is “part of a scheme” that is being plotted against the Palestinian refugee camps and the neighboring areas.

“This criminal operation is part of the scheme that is being plotted by hidden hands for the camps and their surroundings in Sidon and the South,” the party warned in a statement.

A joint Australian-Lebanese commission has been set up to examine a controversial child abduction case in which several Australian nationals have been charged, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced Wednesday.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri held talks on Wednesday with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri, who stressed the need for dialogue among the rival Lebanese factions.

He said: “We are counting on inter-Lebanese dialogue to reach constructive solutions given the difficult regional and international situation.”

The Finance Ministry said Wednesday that customs authorities at Beirut’s airport have thwarted one of the biggest drug smuggling operations in Lebanon after seizing 31 kilograms of cocaine.

The ministry said that customs officers found the cocaine hidden in the bags of a Lebanese man who had arrived to Rafik Hariri International Airport from Brazil via Abu Dhabi.

Lebanese newspapers published front-page appeals Wednesday for readers to "turn the page" on sectarian divisions that persist more than four decades after the outbreak of the country's civil war.

On April 13, 1975, clashes erupted in Beirut between Lebanese Christians and Palestinians, marking the beginning of the 15-year war that left more than 150,000 dead.

Back in Syria, the young women were told they would get well-paid jobs at restaurants and hotels in Lebanon. But when they arrived, their belongings and mobile phones were taken away, and the women were locked up in two hotels north of Beirut and forced into prostitution.

What followed was an ordeal of beatings, torture and abuse — until Lebanese security forces raided the hotels and dismantled the operation in late March.