Trial due this month for five charged over killing of Private Seán Rooney

The trial of five men charged with the killing of Private Seán Ronney is due to get underway in Lebanon later this month.

The five men could face the death penalty, although only one of them, Mohammad Ayyad, is currently in custody.

In June, a Lebanese military tribunal charged the five men with a trial scheduled to open on July 14.

Private Rooney was was killed in December when a UN peacekeeping convoy in which he was traveling came under attack in the south Lebanon town of Al-Aqbiya.

An extra special birthday for Donegal Hospice car winner Peter Browne

Peter Browne from Manorcunningham was just going about his business on Monday morning when he learned he was the winner of a classic 1951 Ford Popular car that was generously donated for a Donegal Hospice draw- a nice surprise on the day of his 78th birthday

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.

A senior official in Lebanon has said that all five of those charged are linked to Hezbollah, a militant group that dominates the area around Al-Aqbiya.

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’. They are due to face trial at a military court in Beirut.

At present, only Ayyad is in custody with the other four accused - who have been named as Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman - still at large.

Hezbollah, which dominates South Lebanon and the area surrounding Al-Aqbiya, handed over Ayyad to the Lebanese army for questioning regarding his alleged involvement in the attack.

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

The funeral of Private Sean Rooney in Newtowncunningham. Photo: North West Newspix

The 23-year-old Private Rooney was driving an armored jeep at the time of the attack and he 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.

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.