BEIRUT — A retired Lebanese officer stormed
a bank Tuesday demanding a money transfer for his son studying in
Ukraine, an
advocacy group said, one of at least three bank hold-ups across Lebanon.
اضافة اعلان
Banks in the country, mired in an economic crisis
for more than two years, partially reopened last week under strict security after
a week-long closure following a slew of heists by customers desperate to access
their money.
Ali Deeb Al-Sahili held hostages at a BLC Bank
branch in Chtaura, a town about 45km east of Beirut, according to the
Depositors’ Outcry Association, seeking to send money to his son in Ukraine.
The armed pensioner, in his 50s, demanded access to
the $24,000 in frozen funds in his account. He was detained, his brother said,
and it was unclear whether he had been able to release any of his savings.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
Hassan Moughnieh, a member of the depositors’
association, said that Sahili had repeatedly pleaded with the bank to be
allowed to send $4,430 to his son — who was reportedly evicted after failing to
pay rent — to cover his accommodation and tuition fees, which the bank refused.
Banks started imposing draconian restrictions on
withdrawals after Lebanon’s economy collapsed in 2019, freezing foreign
currency savings.
Following at least seven heists last month, Lebanese
lenders hired private security companies to guard their branches, and now only
receive depositors by appointment.
Also on Tuesday, an angry depositor held up a bank
in the southern city of Tyre, demanding access to his savings, the Depositors’
Outcry Association said.
In the northern city of Tripoli, employees of an
electricity company stormed a bank to demand the release of their salaries, the
official National News Agency reported.
The financial crash widely blamed on government
corruption and mismanagement has caused the worst economic crisis in Lebanon’s
history.
The Lebanese pound has lost more than 95 percent of
its value on the black market since 2019 as poverty and unemployment have
soared.
Banks have been widely accused of operating like a
cartel and of spiriting large amounts out of the country for senior Lebanese
officials at a time when foreign transfers were already blocked for ordinary
citizens.
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