Convicted Killer of Irish Soldier Seán Rooney Remains at Large Despite Death Sentence

 The man convicted of murdering Irish peacekeeper Private Seán Rooney remains free, despite being sentenced to death by a Lebanese military court. Mohammad Ayyad, who was found guilty in absentia last week, had earlier been released from custody on medical grounds and has not been seen since.

Ayyad failed to appear in court during the sentencing, further fuelling outrage and concern over his whereabouts. Speaking from Rooney’s hometown of Dundalk, local TD Ruairí Ó Murchú, who has been advocating for justice on behalf of the soldier’s grieving family, expressed his deep frustration.

“Where is the man sentenced to death for the killing of Seán Rooney?” he said. “It is absolutely unacceptable that Ayyad remains at large. While I welcome the guilty verdict and the sentence handed down, the fact that the accused was not present in court is deeply troubling. He was released on bail after his initial court appearance, citing a medical condition, and has failed to reappear since.”

Lebanon has not carried out an execution in over two decades, and it is widely expected that Ayyad’s death sentence will be commuted to a lengthy prison term. However, the lack of accountability continues to cast a shadow over the case.

Several other individuals implicated in the December 2022 ambush on a UN peacekeeper convoy in southern Lebanon—an attack which claimed the life of 23-year-old Private Rooney—received what critics describe as disproportionately lenient sentences, ranging from monetary fines to short-term imprisonment.

Ó Murchú called these punishments “extraordinarily lenient by any standard” and reaffirmed his support for the Rooney family, whose grandparents still reside in Dundalk.

“I will be writing to both the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris to urge the Government to use all diplomatic and legal avenues available to ensure that Ayyad is located and brought into custody to serve the sentence imposed by the Lebanese court,” he added.

The tragic killing of Private Rooney, who was serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), continues to resonate both in Ireland and internationally, with renewed calls for justice and accountability for the attack on the peacekeeping mission.