by aa.com.tr — BEIRUT, Lebanon The Lebanese army announced on Friday that it has received the first batch of a $60 million …

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) - A hostage situation in a Beirut, Lebanon, bank ended on Thursday after authorities agreed to grant a Lebanese gunman partial access to his frozen funds in exchange for releasing all six hostages. Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein, 42, entered the Federal Bank of Lebanon branch in the Hamra neighbourhood of west Beirut with a firearm just before noon on Thursday, a security source told Reuters. "He demanded access to around $200,000 he had in his bank account. When the employee refused the request, he began screaming that his relatives were in the hospital. Then he pulled out the gun," the source said. The hostage situation ended after six hours when the bank agreed to give the man around $30,000, his sister and the head of a local banking association told local media. It was not immediately clear if the terms of the settlement included any criminal charges.

Some bank customers managed to flee before he shut the doors on the rest, said the source. At least one elderly man was released from the bank because of his age and government negotiators were deployed to begin talks with the hostage taker, the interior ministry said. The remaining six hostages comprised one customer and five bank employees, including bank manager Hassan Halawi, who spoke to Reuters by phone within the branch. "I'm in my office. He (the hostage taker) gets agitated, then calms down, then gets agitated again," Halawi said by phone before he was released.

سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

نتّجِهُ إلى انتخابِ رئيسٍ جديدٍ لجُمهوريّةٍ مختلِفون عليها. كنا نَتخاصمُ على الرئيسِ ونتَّفقُ على الجمهوريّةِ، فصِرنا اليومَ متخاصِمين على الاثنين. كلُّ شعبٍ مُوحَّدٍ تَجمعُه قواسمُ مشتركَةٌ: الحريّةُ والأُخوّةُ والمساواةُ جَمعَت فرنسا الجُمهوريّة. الهويّةُ الجامعةُ المرتبطةُ بالمبادئِ السياسيّةِ الليبراليّةِ والمساواةِ جَمعَت الولاياتِ المتّحدةَ الأميركيّة. الهويّةُ اليهوديّةُ الصهيونيّةُ المتواصِلةُ بأسطورةِ "أرضِ الميعاد" جَمعت دولةَ إسرائيل. الحِيادُ والثقافةُ والشعورُ بالانتماءِ إلى إمبراطوريّةٍ تاريخيّةٍ انْدثَرت جَمعَت دولةَ النمسا الجديدة. التعدديّةُ الحضاريّةُ في نظامٍ فِدراليٍّ حِياديٍّ جَمعَت دولةَ سويسرا.

ماذا يَجمُع دولةَ لبنان؟ وماذا يَجمعُ اللبنانيّين؟ ما هي قواسِمُنا المشترَكَة؟ التقينا لتَجمَعنا القيمُ والحضاراتُ والثقافاتُ والمبادئ حولَ لبنان، لكنَّ هناك من انساقَ وراءَ عقائدَ قوميّةٍ ومشاريعَ دينيّةٍ ومذهبيّةٍ قَضَت على جميعِ محاولاتِ تثبيتِ الفكرةِ اللبنانيّةِ الرائعة. اليوم، باتَ البعضُ يعتبرُ أنْ لا الدينُ يَجمعُنا ولا العقيدةُ ولا الأصلُ الإِثْنيُّ ولا الأعداءُ ولا الحلفاءُ ولا نمطُ الحياة ولا الآلهةُ ولا الأنبياء. وحين نَتكلمُ العربيّةَ، اللغةَ التي تَجمعُنا، فلكي يَشتُمَ بعضُنا البعضَ الآخَر ويُشكِّكَ في وطنيّتِه.

By By David Sadler — globeecho.com — Lebanese President Michel Aoun reviewed the measures that will be adopted to implement the plan …