Hostage Drama Ends at Lebanese Bank After Depositor Paid $35,000

By Staff, Agencies

An eight-hour hostage crisis ended Thursday evening at Federal Bank's Hamra branch as an armed depositor turned himself in to security forces after the bank agreed to pay him a part of his deposit.

Around ten hostages, most of them bank employees, had been held by the man throughout the day.

Protesters at the scene had chanted "down with the rule of the banks," while others took to social media to express their support for the shaggy-bearded suspect wearing shorts and flip-flops.

Police could not immediately say whether the man would face charges.

The man -- 42-year-old food delivery worker Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein -- had "threatened to set himself on fire and to kill everyone in the branch, pointing his weapon in the bank manager's face," the National News Agency [NNA] said.

He said he stormed the bank because his father "was admitted to hospital some time ago for an operation and could not pay for it," NNA reported.

His brother Atef told journalists: "My brother has $210,000 in the bank and wants to get just $5,500 to pay hospital bills."

He said his brother had grabbed the weapon "from the bank and did not bring it with him."

Lebanon has been mired in an economic crisis for more than two years, since the market value of the local currency began to plummet and banks started to enforce draconian restrictions on foreign and local currency withdrawals.

Lenders have also prevented transfers of money abroad.

The local currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value since the onset of the crisis.

Inflation is rampant, electricity is scarce and, according to the United Nations, around 80 percent of Lebanese live in poverty.

Many Lebanese blame the country's political elite, wealthy and aged figures entrenched for decades. They cite corruption and also blame the banking sector for the country's economic collapse.

The armed depositor fired three warning shots during the standoff. According to TV networks, the man agreed to free the hostages after the bank agreed to pay him $35,000 out of his $210,000 deposit. MTV said the man's brother arrived at the bank and received the money before the hostage-taker agreed to turn himself in.

The man "threatened to set himself on fire and to kill everyone in the branch, pointing his weapon in the bank manager's face," said the NNA.

Since late 2019, Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks have implemented strict withdrawal limits on foreign currency assets, effectively evaporating the savings of many Lebanese.

The country today is suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history, where three-quarters of the population have plunged into poverty.

Citizens who have accounts in dollars have limited access to their deposits amid an unprecedented collapse of the Lebanese pound.