2 days ago
Lebanese authorities know where man sentenced to death for killing Pte Seán Rooney is, Irish officials believe
Irish officials believe
Lebanese
authorities are aware of the location of a
Hizbullah
member who was on Monday convicted of the murder of Pte Seán Rooney in December 2022.
Mohammad Ayyad was sentenced to death in absentia by a Lebanese military court for killing the
Defence Forces
member. The sentence is likely to be later commuted to a prison term.
Ayyad was accused of firing his weapon into Pte Rooney's jeep during an attack in the village of Al-Aqbiya. Six other accused received lesser sentences while one was acquitted.
Pte Rooney and three other Irish peacekeepers, who were serving with the
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil)
mission in south Lebanon, were driving to Beruit Airport when their vehicle came under attack.
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Trooper Shane Kearney was seriously injured in the incident while two other Irish soldiers suffered more minor injuries.
Ayyad was produced to the court by Hizbullah in 2023 and charged under Article 549 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which states the murder of a public official carrying out official duties shall be punishable by death.
He was later released on bail to receive medical treatment after his lawyers told the court he was seriously ill.
Before his sentencing on Monday, documents were handed into court detailing the current location of Ayyad, sources said. The documents stated he was seriously ill in hospital.
Another man present during the attack, Ali Suleiman, was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 100 million Lebanese pounds (€960).
A third accused, Ali Khalifa, was jailed for one month and given a similar fine while two others, Hussein Suleiman, Mustafa Suleiman, and Ali Hakim fined 200 million Lebanese pounds (€1,920) each.
A seventh accused, Mohammed Mazhar, was found not guilty.
Before Monday, none of the accused aside from Ayyad had ever appeared in court. However, all six others turned up for the verdict and sentencing.
A verdict had not been expected in the case until mid-September. The early conclusion of the case is seen by Irish officials as an attempt by the Lebanese authorities to draw a line under the incident before a crucial vote to renew Unifil's peacekeeping mandate, which ends on August 31st.
The Lebanese government wants the mandate renewed. However,
Israel
has been lobbying for Unifil to be wound up or to have its mandate significantly curtailed.
The value Lebanon places on the peacekeeping mission was emphasised by the chief military judge during Monday's hearing.
'Hearts beat for the continued presence of the peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, given the humanitarian, social, and even cultural work they are doing,' Brig Gen Wassim Fayyad said.
The willingness of the court to convict the accused also underlines the reduction in Hizbullah's power and influence since Pte Rooney's murder, officials said.
The militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union, was left badly weakened following Israel's invasion of Lebanon last October.
Monday's three-hour hearing was overseen by Brig Gen Fayyad, who was appointed earlier this year by Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, a former army chief who has pledged to reform the Lebanese judiciary.
The proceedings in Beirut were attended by: Nuala O'Brien, the Irish Ambassador to Egypt with responsibility for Lebanon; Bernie Maguire, an assistant secretary at the Department of Defence; Paul McCloskey, the husband of Pte Rooney's mother Natasha Rooney-McCloskey; Joe Karam, a Lebanese lawyer appointed to represent the Irish Government during the proceedings; and an observer from Unifil.
During the proceedings, the court reviewed video and photographic evidence and heard testimony from the defendants.
The defendants told the court that they had been watching a World Cup football match between France and Morocco in Al-Aqbiya, a town in south Lebanon, on December 14th, 2022, when a Unifil vehicle drove by crowds gathered there.
The Lebanese men said Unifil did not typically undertake patrols in this area. They said the vehicle did not have a UN flag on it and was not accompanied by a Lebanese military patrol. The defendants told the court that they believed it may have been part of an undercover Israeli operation.
The lawyer for the defendants told the military court there was no premeditated plan to kill a UN soldier, in particular a soldier from Ireland. The defendants said they had received no instructions from Hizbullah, or any other group, to kill a UN peacekeeper.
The military court's decision is open to appeal by the defendants and the military prosecutor, Fadi Akiki, who was represented at the hearing on Monday by his deputy Roland Chartouni.
If there is no appeal or once such an appeal concludes, civil proceedings can be instigated by Pte Rooney's family against the defendants.
Evidence from the military court proceedings would then be presented in Lebanon's civil courts, according to Lebanese lawyers familiar with the system.
