Hostage standoff at the Federal Bank in Beirut bank ends with gunman’s surrender
A hostage standoff in which a gunman demanded a Beirut bank let him withdraw his trapped savings has ended with the man’s surrender and no injuries.
Authorities say 42-year-old Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein entered the Federal Bank in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district with a shotgun and a canister of gasoline and threatened 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 group that took part in the talks. He then released his hostages and surrendered.
He did not actually receive any of the money, according to a lawyer who took part in the negotiations.
His wife, Mariam Chehadi, who was standing outside, told reporters after his arrest that her husband “did what he had to do”.
Hussein was holding at least six bank employees hostage, according to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations earlier on Thursday.
He had fired three warning shots, according to the official. Local media reported he has about $200,000 stuck in the bank.
Authorities had been attempting to negotiate with Hussein for several hours, as army soldiers, police officers from the country’s Internal Security Forces, and intelligence agents surrounded the area.
His brother, who was also on scene, told the Associated Press Hussein was seeking to withdraw his money to pay for his father’s medical expenses and other family needs.
“My brother is not a scoundrel, he is a decent man,” Atef al-Sheikh Hussein told the news agency. “He takes what he has from his own pocket to give to others.”
He was demanding the $210,000 that was in his account. At first, the bank was willing to give him $10,000, but then they raised it to $30,000.
People who gathered at the scene really sympathised with Hussein, as they believe that “his predicament is their predicament.
Thursday’s standoff follows an incident in January when a 37-year-old coffee shop owner successfully withdrew $50,000 of his own money from a bank branch in eastern Lebanon after holding bank staff hostage.
Compiled by: Basma Qaddour