A high-level source in the Jordanian government has told The New Arab that the chief suspect in the killing of controversial writer Nahed Hattar is Riyadh Ismail Ahmed Abdullah, a 49-year-old man from North East Amman.
Abdullah had just returned from the Hajj two days prior to the attack.
The killer had worked until recently as an imam at a mosque in the area of al-Zighateet, but had been dismissed after he made offensive statements against Jordan's top officials.
Police have been deployed outside the suspects home in al-Zighateet in order to protect his family.
Nahed Hattar was shot in the head three times outside a court in Amman this morning by a man wearing a grey thobe and a long beard.
The killing seems to be motivated by an cartoon Hattar shared on Facebook depicting an Islamic State group militant talking to God.
Hattar was a fierce critic of IS and political Islam, and a well-known supporter of Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad.