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Suspect in Beirut bank hostage-taking demanded to withdraw his own money, police say

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A hostage standoff in which an armed man┬аdemanded a Beirut bank let him withdraw his trapped savings has ended with the man’s surrender and no injuries.

Authorities said Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, a 42-year-old food-delivery driver, entered the bank with a shotgun and a canister of gasoline, fired three warning shots and locked himself in with up to 10 hostages, threatening to set himself on fire unless he was allowed to take out his money.

After hours of negotiations, he accepted an offer from the bank to receive part of his savings, according to local media and a depositors┬аgroup that took part in the talks. He then released his hostages,┬аand police whisked him away as he walked out of the bank.

He did not actually receive any of the money, according to a lawyer who provided legal support to Hussein and his family.

His wife, Mariam Chehadi, who was standing outside, told reporters after his arrest that her husband “did what he had to do.”

‘My brother is not a scoundrel’

The hostage drama in the city’s bustling Hamra district was the latest painful episode in Lebanon’s economic free-fall, now in its third year. The country’s cash-strapped banks since 2019 have slapped strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency assets, tying up the savings of millions of people.

Hussein had $210,000 US trapped in the bank and been struggling to withdraw his money to pay his father’s medical bills, said Hassan Moghnieh, who┬аas head of the advocacy group Association of Depositors in Lebanon┬аtook part in the negotiations.

Lebanese security forces secure the area outside a bank in Beirut on Thursday. Local media said the man accepted an offer to receive part of his savings, released the hostages and surrendered. (Hussein Malla/The Associated Press)

Hussein’s brother,┬аAtef al-Sheikh Hussein,┬аstanding outside the bank, told the Associated Press during the standoff that his brother would be willing to turn himself in if the bank gave him money to help with bills and other family expenses.

“My brother is not a scoundrel. He is a decent man,” Atef┬аsaid. “He takes what he has from his own pocket to give to others.”

Lebanese soldiers, officers from the country’s Internal Security Forces and intelligence agents converged on the area during the standoff. Seven or eight bank employees were taken hostage along with two customers, George al-Haj, head of the Bank Employees Syndicate, told local media.

Dozens of protesters gathered during the standoff, chanting slogans against the Lebanese government and banks, hoping that the armed man┬аwould receive his savings. Some bystanders hailed him as a hero.

Lebanon’s economic crisis

Lebanon is suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Three-quarters of the population has plunged into poverty, and the Lebanese pound has declined in value by more than 90 per cent┬аagainst the U.S. dollar.

WATCH | In Lebanon, anger grows over┬аcurrency losses, corruption:┬а

Lebanon crippled by economic crisis, corruption

People in Lebanon are angry at the government over an economic crisis that has caused gas shortages and currency losses, all of which were made worse by last yearтАЩs devastating explosion and continued corruption.

“What led us to this situation is the state’s failure to resolve this economic crisis and the banks’ and Central Bank’s actions, where people can only retrieve some of their own money as if it’s a weekly allowance,” said Dina Abou Zour, a lawyer with the advocacy group Depositors’ Union, who was among the protesters.

“This has led to people taking matters into their own hands,” she said.┬а

In January, a coffee shop owner withdrew $50,000 US trapped in a bank in Lebanon after taking employees hostage and threatening to kill them.

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