Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday visited the home village of slain writer Nahed Hattar to pay condolences to his family, following his murder outside an Amman court.

Protesters called on Monday for Jordan's government to resign over its failure to prevent the murder of the writer Nahed Hattar outside an Amman court.

A prominent and outspoken Jordanian writer on Sunday was shot dead in front of the courthouse where he had been on trial for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam.
There were no immediate details on the identity or motive of the gunman. But a witness described the shooter, who was immediately arrested, as wearing a long grey robe and long beard characteristic of conservative Muslims. The shooting was the latest in a string of deadly security lapses in Jordan.
Jordan's King Abdullah II has rejected calls to restore access to a border area where tens of thousands of Syrians are stranded, local media reported on Monday.

A Jordanian court on Thursday sentenced a man to death for killing five intelligence agents in their office in a Palestinian refugee camp in June, state media reported.
Amman's state security court "sentenced the criminal Mahmud Masharfeh to death by hanging for his terrorist act against the intelligence agency," Petra news said.

Concern is growing for tens of thousands of refugees on the Syrian-Jordanian border after Amman blocked access to a makeshift refugee camp following last week's deadly jihadist attack at the frontier.

A Jordanian court on Sunday charged 21 people with carrying out "terrorist acts" after their arrest in an operation against jihadists in the country's north in March, a prosecutor said.

The Islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, said on Sunday it will take part in September parliamentary elections which it had boycotted in 2010 and 2013.

Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed on Tuesday to act decisively against anyone who threatens the kingdom's security, a day after a lone gunman shot dead five intelligence officers.

A gunman apparently acting alone killed five Jordanian intelligence agents on Monday in a daylight "terrorist attack" on their office in a Palestinian refugee camp north of the capital.
Jordan is a leading member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in neighboring Iraq and Syria, and has been the target of jihadist attacks in the past.
