Prominent Jordanian author Nahed Hattar was gunned down in public when he was at the court over charges of sharing an anti-Islamic cartoon
A man cleans (inset) Hattar’s blood after he was shot dead outside a Amman court on Sunday. Pic/AFP
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Amman: A gunman yesterday killed prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar outside a court where he was facing charges for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam, state news agency Petra reported.
Hattar was struck by three bullets before the assailant was arrested, said Petra. Witnesses said that a man had opened fire in front of the court in Amman’s Abdali district. The 56-year-old Christian was arrested on August 13 after posting a cartoon mocking jihadists on his Facebook account.
He was charged with inciting sectarian strife and insulting Islam before being released on bail in early September.
Jordan’s attorney general had imposed a blackout on media coverage of the case. Hattar removed the cartoon from his Facebook page after it triggered outrage on social media.
Jordan is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, and was the target of a June 21 suicide bombing that killed seven border guards.
The kingdom has carried out air strikes targeting IS jihadists and hosts coalition troops on its territory.
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