Jordanian accused of insulting Islam shot dead outside court

Nahed Hattar, a Jordanian writer charged with offending Islam with a satirical cartoon he shared on Facebook, has been shot dead outside court in Amman.

The suspected gunman, identified by authorities as Riad Abdullah, 49, gave himself up to police shortly after the shooting. According to security sources, he was "known as an extremist", the Jordan Times says.

A member of the writer's family said he held Jordan's Prime Minister, Hani al-Mulki, responsible for Hattar's death.

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"The PM was the first one who incited against Nahed when he ordered his arrest and put him on trial for sharing the cartoon," Saad Hattar said. "That ignited the public against him and led to his killing."

Hattar was detained in August for 15 days on charges of insulting God, after he published the cartoon depicting "a bearded man lying in bed with two women and smoking, asking God to bring him a drink", the BBC says.

Hattar had defended the cartoon, saying it was not his intention to insult Islam but to expose how Isis "envisions God and heaven".

He was a "controversial figure on the left of Jordanian politics", The Guardian says. He had previously been charged with insulting the country's king.