Anti-govt protest in Jordan over murder of writer

Protesters called today for Jordan's government to resign over its failure to prevent the murder of Christian writer Nahed Hattar, as the killing was condemned internationally.
A bearded assailant yesterday shot dead Hattar, 56, on the steps of a court in central Amman where he was facing trial for sharing an anti-Islam cartoon on social media.
His family has so far refused to collect his body for burial, charging that authorities were warned of threats to Hattar's life and had failed to act.
Hundreds of sympathisers and members of the writer's tribe protested outside the premier's office today.
"The people want the fall of the government... No security, they killed Nahed in Amman!" they chanted.

Carrying his portrait, they called for the resignation of both Prime Minister Hani al-Malki and Interior Minister Salama Hammad.

"We handed over 200 names (of people who had threatened the writer) to the governor (of Amman), including that of the assassin, and demanded protection," said Khaled Hattar, one of the victim's brothers.
"But he refused, saying there was 'no real threat'."
Jordan's judiciary on today slapped a media blackout on the murder, a day after he was gunned down on arrival at the court.
The information ministry said the aim was to preserve "the secrecy of the investigation" and that the blackout applied to both social and traditional media.

Hattar had faced charges over a cartoon he posted on Facebook under the title "God of Daesh" (the Islamic State jihadist group) showing a bearded man in bed smoking with two women lying on either side, and addressing God as a servant.
He was hit by three bullets before the alleged assassin was arrested at the scene of the shooting in the capital's Abdali district, official media said.
The assailant - bearded and robed like a conservative Muslim - shot him as he made his way up the steps outside the court.
Amnesty International condemned "this deplorable murder" but also criticised the government.

"By using strict blasphemy laws to prosecute a person for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, Jordanian authorities are fuelling a climate in which violent threats against people whose views are deemed offensive by others are allowed to flourish," said Philip Luther of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa department.
The UN's cultural agency also condemned the killing.