The Lebanese Shiite militia-party Hezbollah on Sunday handed over to Lebanese authorities a suspect in the death of the ‘blue helmet’ who was killed last week in an attack on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy.
Security and judicial sources have assured the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat that the suspect is already in the hands of the authorities – although it is not known at the moment whether he is part of the group or a sympathizer – and that «more details will be known soon» of the investigation, which is still underway.
The head of mission of UNIFIL, the Spaniard Aroldo Lazaro, attended a ceremony held on December 18 at the Raif Hariri International Airport in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, to honor the ‘blue helmet’ who died at the beginning of last week, according to the United Nations.
The Irish soldier, Sean Rooney, was killed during an attack in the southern town of Al Aqbiya when unidentified persons fired small arms at two armored vehicles carrying eight soldiers, wounding three other ‘blue helmets’.
The last farewell to the soldier was held on Thursday at the Holy Family Church in Dundalk, Louth county, after which he was buried in the cemetery of All Saints Catholic Church in Newtowncunningham, as reported by the RTE channel.
UNIFIL was deployed in the country in 1978 and restored after the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia-party Hezbollah, which lasted just over a month and resulted in the death of some 1,200 people in Lebanon -most of them civilians- and 160 Israelis -most of them soldiers-, as well as significant material damage in the Arab country.
Resolution 1701 calls for an end to the conflict, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and the deployment in the south of the country of Lebanese forces and of UNIFIL itself. It also calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, which includes Hezbollah, and that there be no armed forces other than those of UNIFIL and Lebanon south of the Litani River, which includes both Israel and the Lebanese militia-party.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
