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Join on Telegram Rabat – An armed man in Lebanon surrendered to police on Thursday after holding several people hostage at a bank, with his only demand being that he is allowed to withdraw his own savings.
Authorities said the 42-year-old entered one of Beirut’s Federal Bank branches with a shotgun and gasoline, threatening to set himself on fire if he was not allowed to take his money out.
The man’s brother, who was on the scene, told the Associated Press that Hussein was looking to withdraw the money in order to pay for his father’s medical expenses.
After hours of negotiations, the gunman accepted an offer from the bank to receive part of his savings, before releasing the hostages and surrendering, after a standoff that lasted nearly seven hours.
Despite the nature of the situation, the crowd around the bank reportedly sympathized with the gunman, with many of them reporting having gone through similar predicaments over the last few years.
Lebanon has been suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history, with banks imposing strict withdrawal limits on foreign currency assets, which has led to many citizens’ savings essentially being freezed.
In late 2019, people were locked out of their savings in the banks, and a few months later strict limits for withdrawals were being imposed.
While two-thirds of the country now live in poverty, foreign governments have avoided investing in Lebanon without commitments to widespread reforms. The situation has not been helped by the Lebanese pound’s consistent decline in value.
