Female armed depositor storms Beirut bank

BEIRUT, Sept 14 (Arab News): An armed female depositor stormed a BLOM Bank branch on Wednesday morning, and held employees as hostages as she demanded that her trapped savings be released so she can use them for her sister's cancer treatment.
The woman, who identified herself as Sali Hafiz in a social media post, brandished a pistol as she forcibly closed the branch for an hour until she managed to get her savings and fled.
Earlier reports also claimed she was arrested by members of the General Security Authority, but some witness said the woman eventually left with cash in a plastic bag.
A report from The Associated Press said that she and some activists entered the BLOM Bank branch and stormed into the manager's office. They forced bank employees to hand over $12,000 and the equivalent of about $1,000 in Lebanese pounds.
Hafiz told local Al-Jadeed TV that she needed the money to fund her sister's cancer treatment. She said she had repeatedly visited the bank to ask for her money and was told she could only receive $200 a month in Lebanese pounds. Hafiz said the toy pistol belonged to her nephew.
"I had begged the branch manager before for my money, and I told him my sister was dying, didn't have much time left," she said in the interview. "I reached a point where I had nothing else to lose."
Hafiz said she had a total of $20,000 in savings trapped in that bank. She said she had already sold many of her personal belongings and had considered selling her kidney to fund her 23 year-old sister's cancer treatment.
"They doused gasoline everywhere inside, and took out a lighter and threatened to light it," Nadine Nakhal, a customer at the bank, told The Associated Press. She said the armed woman threatened to shoot the manager if she did not receive her money.