Jordan writer in anti-Islam case shot dead at court

Amman : A prominent Jordanian writer was shot dead Sunday on the steps of a court where he was facing charges for sharing an anti-Islam cartoon on Facebook.

Nahed Hattar was struck by three bullets before the alleged assassin was arrested at the scene of the shooting in Amman's central Abdali district, said the official Petra news agency.

The assailant -- bearded and dressed in a grey dishdasha worn by conservative Muslim men --shot Hattar, a 56-year-old Christian, as he made his way up the steps outside the court, a security source told AFP.

Hit in the head, he was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital, the source said.

The gunman, a 49-year-old resident of the capital, gave himself up to police at the court, the source added. Media reports said he was a former preacher in an Amman mosque.

A judicial source later said the assailant was remanded for 15 days and charged with premeditated murder, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted.

The suspect, an education ministry employee, had acted alone and was not linked to any "terrorist" group, a source close to his interrogation said, asking not to be named.

An AFP journalist saw blood on the steps of the building where police had cordoned off the area of the shooting.

Mohammad al-Jaghbir, Hattar's friend, told AFP he had witnessed the killing.