Bassam alSheikh Hussein received the support of several protesters as he left the bank where he was holding six people hostage in Beirut, Lebanon, this Thursday (11). The man asked the Bundesbank to allow him to withdraw his savings from the account frozen by the Lebanese government due to the economic crisis that has plagued the country since 2019.
Authorities say Hussein, 42, entered the bank armed and threatened with a can of petrol that he would set himself on fire if he was not allowed to withdraw his money. “[Ele] did what he had to do,” Mariam Chehadi, the Lebanese man’s wife, told reporters outside the bank branch.
Dina Abou Zour, a lawyer and activist representing Hussein’s family, explained that the Lebanese initially wanted to withdraw all his savings from the bank, about $210,000. But after hours of negotiations, the man accepted an offer from the institution, which handed his brother $35,000.
According to the Lebanese man’s relatives, he needed money to pay his father’s medical expenses and other bills. “My brother is not a villain. He’s a decent man. He takes from his own pocket what he has to give to others,” Hussein’s brother Atef said during the standoff outside the bench.
Hussein was taken to an intelligence agency of the General Directorate of Police, where officials said the Interior Minister was waiting for him. Rami Ollek, the Lebanese’s lawyer, said the police had promised Hussein’s release.
“In our experience, there is no such thing as trust. You’ll apologize that it’s too late to hold him. We are going to the police station to demand his release as they promised or we will act,” Ollek said.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the bank as the situation unfolded. Many chanted slogans against the Lebanese government and banks, hoping the gunman would get his money. Some viewers celebrated him as a hero.
“No one will say they did the wrong thing,” Ahmad Yatoum, who was close to the Federal Bank, told The Guardian. “Desperate people do desperate things. We are all like him, even the soldiers and the riot police liked him.”
Since 2019, Lebanon has been suffering from the worst economic crisis in its modern history. Three quarters of the population live in poverty and the Lebanese pound has depreciated by more than 90% against the US dollar.
“What has brought us to this situation is the state’s failure to resolve this economic crisis and the actions of the banks and central bank where people can only get a portion of their own money back as if it were a weekly allowance,” said Abou .Zour, from the Depositors’ Union and one of the protesters. “And that led to people taking matters into their own hands.”
2 of 2 Hussein received support from protesters who gathered around the bank branch in Beirut — Photo: Portal/Mohamed Azakir
Hussein received support from protesters who gathered around the bank’s branch in Beirut — Photo: Portal/Mohamed Azakir