BEIRUT – A retired police officer tried to set himself on fire Monday outside a bank in Sour in southern Lebanon during a protest against banks, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the NNA, the man poured gasoline on himself before Lebanese Army soldiers and security officers intervened.
• The incident comes as retired Lebanese police officers demonstrated across the country on Monday against restrictions imposed by banks on their allowances.
• Lebanon is going through one of the worst economic and financial crises in its history as currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value over the past two years against the dollar, while more than 75 percent of the Lebanese population now live below the poverty line.
