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Release of UN Peacekeeper’s Killer Stirs Heated Debate in Lebanon

A member of the mine clearance team is pictured behind a UN flag during a tour by France's defense minister of the French contingent's United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Kifa on November 2, 2023. (AFP)
A member of the mine clearance team is pictured behind a UN flag during a tour by France's defense minister of the French contingent's United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Kifa on November 2, 2023. (AFP)
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Release of UN Peacekeeper’s Killer Stirs Heated Debate in Lebanon

A member of the mine clearance team is pictured behind a UN flag during a tour by France's defense minister of the French contingent's United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Kifa on November 2, 2023. (AFP)
A member of the mine clearance team is pictured behind a UN flag during a tour by France's defense minister of the French contingent's United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Kifa on November 2, 2023. (AFP)

The Lebanese military tribunal’s decision to release on bail on Wednesday the killer of a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeper has stirred debate in the country.

In June, the tribunal charged Mohamad Ayyad and four others with the killing of Pvt. Seán Rooney, 24, of Newtown Cunningham, Ireland, following a half-year probe. Rooney was killed on Dec. 14, 2022. Ayyad was detained in December 2022.

The four others facing charges — Ali Khalifeh, Ali Salman, Hussein Salman, and Mustafa Salman — remain at large. All five are allegedly linked with Hezbollah. Hezbollah has repeatedly denied any role in the killing.

The development comes as UNIFIL monitors ongoing clashes along the border between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.

Political and legal circles in Lebanon charged that Hezbollah had pressured the tribunal to release Ayyad.

A prominent source at the court stressed that the decision wasn't politically motivated, explaining that he was released for health reasons and the jail could not meet the expenses for his treatment.

Two Lebanese officials confirmed that Ayyad was released on bail, which one of them said was in an amount of 1.2 billion Lebanese pounds (approximately $13,377).

The official said Ayyad had cancer and his lawyer had provided the necessary medical documents, adding that the trial is still ongoing and that Ayyad would go to jail should he be convicted and sentenced.

The source clarified that the court had previously released other prisoners for similar health and humanitarian reasons because prison authorities cannot put their lives in danger by keeping them detained and deprived of the needed treatment.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Asharq Al-Awsat that the court had informed the peacekeeping force that Ayyad was being released due to his “deteriorating health.”

He will still make a court appearance on December 15.

Tenenti stressed that UNIFIL will continue to demand that Rooney’s killers be brought to justice. The murder, he added, is a crime according to international and Lebanese law.

A source from the opposition expressed concern that Ayyad’s release will have “negative repercussions on the Lebanese state’s credibility in punishing people who assault the UN forces.”

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the release won’t impact UNIFIL’s mission, but it will be open to various interpretations.

It may give the impression that the state gives cover to anyone who attacks UNIFIL or that it may create justifications to undermine attacks against it, he added.

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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.