BEIRUT, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- A hostage standoff in a bank in Lebanon's capital Beirut ended without injury on Thursday after the bank agreed to unfreeze part of an armed man's savings, local media reported.
In the seven-hour crisis in the Federal Bank of Lebanon, Bassam Al Sheikh Hussein, 42, threatened to kill clients and employees at the bank if he could not withdraw his savings of 209,000 U.S. dollars to pay for his father's medical treatment.
After hours of negotiations, Hussein accepted an offer from the bank to withdraw 35,000 U.S. dollars of his savings, and then released his hostages and surrendered.
A deep financial crisis in Lebanon has compelled banks to place heavy restrictions on depositors' withdrawals. ■
