Analyst Blames Jordan Government for Pro-Syrian Journalist’s Assassination
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A political analyst criticized Amman’s government for its failure to protect the life of Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar, saying the renowned journalist was assassinated for advocating Syria and the resistance movement and for his anti-Israeli and anti-Takfiri views.
In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Lebanese journalist and analyst Ghaleb Kandil hailed Hattar as a fervent opponent of Takfirism who talked openly about the need to defend Syria and the axis of anti-Israeli resistance movement and who called for unity of the nations despite religious differences.
Hattar, a Christian journalist and writer, was assassinated on September 25 outside a court in Jordan where he was facing charges for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam.
Elsewhere in his comments, Kandil noted that in the assassination case, the blame lies with Israel, the US, regional reactionary regimes and with the Jordanian government, which failed to do anything to protect the life of the defendant, although his lawyers had repeatedly called for protection.
Jordan’s security services must have been aware that Hattar had been receiving regular death threats, Kandil deplored.
The deceased, 56, was charged with inciting sectarian strife after posting a cartoon on Facebook this year, entitled the God of Daesh (ISIL), depicting a member of the terrorist group, which is perceived to get widespread support from the Wahhabis and the Saudi regime.
He had removed the cartoon shortly thereafter, saying "it mocks terrorists and their concept of God and heaven. It does not infringe God's divinity in any way". It is not known who produced the cartoon.