Suspect in murder of Irish peacekeepers could go free

The chief suspect in the 1980 murder of two Irish peacekeepers, Mahmoud Bazzi, could go free under an amnesty covering crimes committed during the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war.

Mr Bazzi (71) was detained on his arrival in Beirut last week, following deportation from the US for entering that country on false documentation, but could soon be a free man.

He is charged by the Irish Government with kidnapping, torturing and killing privates Derek Smallhorne (31), from Dublin, and Thomas Barrett (30), from Cork, who were serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).

Mr Bazzi allegedly committed the murders while a member of the Israeli-sponsored South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, formed to operate against Palestinian and Lebanese Shia forces and provide day-to-day administration during Israel's 1978-2000 occupation of a broad band of Lebanese territory north of the border with Israel.

The peacekeepers, travelling in convoy on April 18th, 1980, were stopped by the SLA at a time of high tensions following clashes between the SLA and Irish and Dutch peacekeepers that killed an Irish soldier and a SLA paramilitary.

Journalist Steve Hindi and Irish peacekeeper John O'Mahony, from Scartaglin, Co Kerry, who were also with the convoy have testified that the two Irish soldiers were assaulted before being driven away by the militiamen.

As Mr O’Mahony was also shot during the events, attempted murder has been added to the charges.

Mr Bazzi declared in SLA broadcasts that the murders were in revenge for the killing of his brother by Irish troops. He later denied involvement and said he had made the admission under duress.

The SLA was disbanded and many of its officers and their families settled in Israel following the Israeli army’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000.

Of the former SLA members who remained in Lebanon, 4,800 were arrested, of whom 90 per cent were tried in military courts and freed within three months to a year. The death sentence was proposed for 21 militiamen but was commuted to life and they served several years in prison.

Mr Bazzi emigrated to the US in 1994 and settled in Dearborn, Michigan, a Detroit suburb hosting thousands of Lebanese who had fled the Israeli occupation zone.