A MAN accused of killing Irish UN peacekeeper Private Sean Rooney in south Lebanon has been released on bail after almost a year in detention.
A military court official said the suspect was released pending a trial.
Private Rooney, 24, was killed in active service on December 14 last year in the Lebanon after the armoured car he was driving came under fire.
Lebanon’s military tribunal in June charged Mohamad Ayyad and four others with the killing following a half-year probe.
Private Rooney died in the attack, while Trooper Shane Kearney, 23, suffered head injuries in the same incident.
A military court official said the suspect was part of the group that surrounded the UN patrol.
It is believed the suspect may have opened fire, but there is no conclusive evidence proving he was the one who injured the Irish peacekeeper, causing his death.
The suspect was detained and handed over to the authorities by Hezbollah in December last year.
The four others facing charges, including Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman, remain at large.
The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, which acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, who remain technically at war, said: “We continue to urge that all perpetrators be held accountable and for justice for Private Rooney and his family.”
It added that it was aware of reports of the man’s release, saying that the force was “working to confirm this information with the military court”.
Donegal native Sean was due to marry his heartbroken fiancée, Holly McConnellogue, in August.
In a heartbreaking promise on what should have been their wedding day, Holly shared a snap online of their ring.
She wrote: “We might not be getting married today, but we will make up for everything we missed out on when I see you again.”
During Sean’s funeral service in December, grieving Holly, 22, said she felt “absolutely honoured” that she got to spend three years with the love of her life.
‘MY BETTER HALF’
In a heartbreaking statement read on her behalf, she said: “Growing up, I never understood why people called their partner their other half.
“As my relationship with Sean advanced it became clear, Sean is not only my other half, he’s my better half.
“I can say for certain that he would have been a fantastic husband and an even better father.
“Sean always encouraged me in my work and my studies and everything in life.
“He believed I could do anything. He made me feel I could do anything.
“And he ensured to always tell me how proud he was of everything I achieved in life.”