On December 14, an Irish peacekeeper was killed and three others injured in the attack on a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) convoy, 40 kilometers south of Beirut.
With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
At the current stage of the investigation, only one of the seven suspects is behind bars. Mohammad Ayyad, a Hezbollah ally, was handed over to the authorities by the Shiite party which had called the attack on the convoy of blue helmets of ” unintentional incident “.
The young man was charged by the Lebanese military court with the murder of the Irish soldier and the attempted murder of his three comrades. The other six suspects still at large are charged “ of uttering threats with illegal weapons, and of destroying a UN force vehicle and intimidating its passengers “.
Last December 14, a hostile mob blocked the path of two UNIFIL vehicles which were going to Beirut by taking an unusual route. Shots had been fired and one of the vehicles had been hit by seven projectiles. The incident had been filmed by several of the surveillance cameras.
Pointed the finger, Hezbollah offered its condolences to the UN force and to the families of the victims and very quickly dissociated itself from the assailants. Three separate investigations were conducted to clarify the circumstances of this incident. The first by the Lebanese authorities, the second by UNIFIL and another by Ireland.