Beirut protesters demand release of bank heist detainees

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Protesters in Lebanon have scuffled with security forces outside the Justice Ministry in Beirut demanding the release of two detainees who were involved in a bank heist last week. Monday’s fray came as a delegation from the International Monetary Fund held meetings in Beirut with officials over the country’s economic meltdown and the limited steps taken by the government to get Lebanon out of the worst economic crisis in its modern history. Anger with local lenders who have been imposing informal capital controls including limits on ATM withdrawals for nearly three years increased in recent weeks, with some depositors storming bank branches and taking their trapped savings by force.