Gunman kills prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar charged over anti-Islam cartoon

Amman: A gunman on Sunday 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. [caption id=“attachment_3019672” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Jordanian writer Nahedh hattar. Twitter @hattarnahedh[/caption] Witnesses told AFP that a man had opened fire in front of the court in Amman’s Abdali district. The 56-year-old Christian was arrested on 13 August 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 Islamic State jihadists and hosts coalition troops on its territory.