Mohammed Ayyad, a Hezbollah terrorist who was sentenced to death in absentia for the killing of Irish UN peacekeeper Private Sean Rooney, is believed to be hiding out in Iran, Irish newspaper The Sunday World reported on Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.
Lebanese authorities have failed to locate Ayyad since he was released on bail over a year ago on medical grounds. However, an Irish politician representing Louth, Sinn Féin TD Ruairi O'Murchu, said his medical condition was largely unknown.
“This guy seems to have vanished, and nobody knows where he is,” he said.
An unnamed diplomatic source added, “We suspect he is in Iran, and it is unlikely anyone will hand him over to face a death penalty. It is not a satisfactory situation, but all we can do is keep the pressure on and see if we can get justice for Sean and his family."
Last month, Ayyad was sentenced at a military tribunal along with three others involved in the murder. Three other terrorists were sentenced from one to three months in prison, and one was fined the equivalent of €1800. A fourth man was acquitted.
The sentences saw outrage from Irish officials, who have waited since Rooney was murdered in December 2022 for justice.
Hezbollah handed over a suspect in 2022, though it is unclear if that was Ayyad. The terror group denied that those responsible for the attack were members, though Irish officials have insisted the murderers were connected to the organization.
Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, said in a statement following last week that an appeal was launched over the lax sentences of Rooney’s killers.
Harris shared that the Irish government had written to their Lebanese counterparts to express “the disappointment of the Irish government and in particular of the Rooney family at the leniency of the sentences handed down.”
He confirmed that Lebanon’s new military chief would oversee the case, and that the Lebanese authorities would increase efforts to locate Ayyad.
If Ayyad’s sentence is carried out, it will be the first death penalty imposed in Lebanon in the last 20 years.
Who was Private Sean Rooney?
Rooney, a private, was murdered while driving a UN vehicle through the village of Al-Aqbiya, Lebanon, in December 2022.
Traveling along with several colleagues in two separate convoys, the soldiers were heading to Beirut Airport - an area with a record of being under Hezbollah control.
Natasha Rooney, the fallen peacekeeper’s mother, previously won the right to sue UNIFIL over her son’s death. She alleged that rather than send support to rescue her son, UN officials ordered soldiers at a nearby base to stand down.
The officials were said to have believed closer peacekeepers would respond to the group under fire.