Man charged with Private Seán Rooney killing released on bail, Lebanese media say

Mohammad Ayyad, the only person yet to be charged with the killing of Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon last December has been released from custody.

Ayyad was handed over to the military in December by Hezbollah.

In August Ayyad, who appeared before a military court hearing in Beirut, admitted to firing a gun during the attack that saw 23-year-old Private Rooney killed.

Private Rooney was driving an armoured jeep when a UN peacekeeping convoy in which he was traveling came under attack in the south Lebanon town of Al-Aqbiya on December 14, 2022.

Four other men - Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman - remain at large.

Ayyad appeared before five judges in August and, while he admitted to firing a gun, he denied involvement in Hezbollah, a militant group that dominates the area around Al-Aqbiya. Brigadier General Khalil Ali Jaber adjourned the hearing until December 15.

Lebanese media has said that ‘in extremely precise timing’, the military court has this week released Ayyad on bail.

Earlier this year, the first military investigation Judge Fadi Sawan charged Ayyad with voluntary homicide and criminal conspiracy.

Private Rooney, a Dundalk native who had lived in Newtowncunningham for the past decade, became the 48th Irish soldier to die while on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. He was due to wed his fiancé Holly McConnellogue in August. His colleague Trooper Shane Kearney was seriously wounded in the attack.

A spokesperson for the Irish Department of Defence said: “The Tánaiste and Minister of Defence and the Department are aware of media reports that the man accused of the murder of Private Seán Rooney, Mohammed Ayyad, has been released on bail from custody in Lebanon.

“The Department has engaged a Lebanese legal firm to represent the interests and concerns of the Irish Government at the court hearings and they will be in contact with the Court today to establish the circumstances of Ayyad’s reported release.”

The release of Ayyad coincides with concern over the current situation in south Lebanon with confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel escalating.

Representatives from the Irish Embassy in Cairo and the Consulate in Beirut have attended all hearings in the matter to date. The Department of defence has also engaged a Lebanese legal firm to represent the ‘interests and concerns of the Irish Government’ at the court hearings.

In a recent response to a Parliamentary Question, he Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin - who has been in Lebanon since the attack - said that he has ‘consistently expressed my determination that all of the facts and circumstances of the incident are fully established and that no stone is left unturned to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice’.