Hearing into killing of Private Seán Rooney adjourned in Beirut

A preliminary hearing into the killing of Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon has been adjourned.

A military court in Beirut adjourned the hearing on Friday with four of the five men alleged to have been involved in the fatal attack in December still at large.

The 23-year-old 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.

Mohammad Ayyad is the sole defendant in custody after he was handed over by Hezbollah, a militant group that dominates the area around Al-Aqbiya.

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The five men could face the death penalty, although the other four, who have been named as Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman, are still at large.

The defendants were alleged to have been in contact via walkie-talkies and were allegedly overheard saying: ‘We are from Hezbollah’.

They have been indicted on voluntary homicide and criminal conspiracy, charges which carry the death penalty under the penal code in the country.

The indictment says that the quintet ‘formed a criminal gang and implemented a criminal project’. The case has been compiled by Judge Fadi Sawwan.

Private Rooney, a Dundalk native who had lived in Newtowncunningham for the past decade, was shot dead and his colleague Trooper Shane Kearney seriously wounded in the attack.

Private Rooney 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.

The hearing was adjourned until August 30.

Nuala O’Brien, the Irish Ambassador to Egypt, was present and the Irish government also had legal representatives present who they say were in attendance ‘to represent the interest and concerns of the Irish government’.

Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin has vowed in the months since the incident that ‘no stone will be left unturned’ in the quest for justice.

“We want justice done here because peace keeping is the most noble thing a person can do in life and our peacekeepers represent our country exceptionally well overseas and in Lebanon for many many years.”

Separately, a UNIFIL investigation has been completed and a report has been given to authorities in both Ireland and Lebanon.

A further probe is being carried out by An Garda Siochana, who are preparing a file for an inquest hearing under the Coroners Act 1962 and not a criminal investigation.