The Star
Most people probaby won't have seen it, so here is a story that may be of interest.
Peacekeepers' killers may never be caught - Defence Minister tells Dail
Michael O'Toole
Crime Correspondent
THE MURDERERS of two Irish peacekeepers will probably never face justice because of two legal loopholes, it emerged last night.
Defence Minister Michael Smith has told the Dail it will be difficult to prosecute the killers of Privates Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett – even though authorities have identified a prime suspect.
“Building a prima facie case at this remove is likely to prove difficult,” the Minister said in an answer to questions from labour leader Pat Rabbitte.
No-one has ever been brought to justice for the brutal murder of the two soldiers, who were abducted and shot two days after the infamous battle of At-Tiri in Lebanon in April 1980.
There, the pro-Israeli SLA moved in to the Muslim village and wanted to ethnically cleanse it, but they were met by Irish defenders who simply would not let this happen.
It was the start of a week-long battle – involving hundreds of men on each side – in which an undisclosed number of SLA members were killed.
One Irish soldier, Private Stephen Griffin, was killed in the battle, in which the Irish detachment fired dozens of shells from armoured cars at the opposition.
But after the battle, the SLA took bloody revenge on the Irish unit when they abducted and later murdered the two soldiers.
Nothing more was heard of their killings until late 1999, when an RTE crew tracked down the prime suspect for the killings, Mohammed Bazi.
He is a naturalised US citizen and is living the US Mid-West – but there is no sign of him being extradited to Ireland for a trial.
Minister Smith told the Dail that there are two legal blocks to the killers being brought to justice.
The first is that foreigners cannot be tried in Ireland for crimes committee abroad – Bazi will have to stand trial in Lebanon.
The second block is that a special international law, set up to allow killers of UN personnel to face justice, only came into force in 1999 – and no crimes committed before that date are covered.
“The government will continue to explore such avenues as may be open to it to seek justice in this tragic case,” Mr Smith said.
But the Labour Party has said it wants the government to do more to bring the killers to justice.
“We are disappointed that the government has not pursued this matter more strongly with the US authorities,” a spokesman told The Star.
Most people probaby won't have seen it, so here is a story that may be of interest.
Peacekeepers' killers may never be caught - Defence Minister tells Dail
Michael O'Toole
Crime Correspondent
THE MURDERERS of two Irish peacekeepers will probably never face justice because of two legal loopholes, it emerged last night.
Defence Minister Michael Smith has told the Dail it will be difficult to prosecute the killers of Privates Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett – even though authorities have identified a prime suspect.
“Building a prima facie case at this remove is likely to prove difficult,” the Minister said in an answer to questions from labour leader Pat Rabbitte.
No-one has ever been brought to justice for the brutal murder of the two soldiers, who were abducted and shot two days after the infamous battle of At-Tiri in Lebanon in April 1980.
There, the pro-Israeli SLA moved in to the Muslim village and wanted to ethnically cleanse it, but they were met by Irish defenders who simply would not let this happen.
It was the start of a week-long battle – involving hundreds of men on each side – in which an undisclosed number of SLA members were killed.
One Irish soldier, Private Stephen Griffin, was killed in the battle, in which the Irish detachment fired dozens of shells from armoured cars at the opposition.
But after the battle, the SLA took bloody revenge on the Irish unit when they abducted and later murdered the two soldiers.
Nothing more was heard of their killings until late 1999, when an RTE crew tracked down the prime suspect for the killings, Mohammed Bazi.
He is a naturalised US citizen and is living the US Mid-West – but there is no sign of him being extradited to Ireland for a trial.
Minister Smith told the Dail that there are two legal blocks to the killers being brought to justice.
The first is that foreigners cannot be tried in Ireland for crimes committee abroad – Bazi will have to stand trial in Lebanon.
The second block is that a special international law, set up to allow killers of UN personnel to face justice, only came into force in 1999 – and no crimes committed before that date are covered.
“The government will continue to explore such avenues as may be open to it to seek justice in this tragic case,” Mr Smith said.
But the Labour Party has said it wants the government to do more to bring the killers to justice.
“We are disappointed that the government has not pursued this matter more strongly with the US authorities,” a spokesman told The Star.
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