Suspect in murder of retired intelligence officer arrested

AMMAN — Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with the deadly shooting of a retired General Intelligence Department (GID) officer in Madaba a day earlier.

The victim, retired Maj. Gen. Habes Hanieneh, who served as head of the Anti-Terrorism Unit at the GID, was reportedly shot to death while at his house which was under construction on Tuesday night.

The suspect fled the area but was later arrested by the authorities by a special investigation team tasked with following up on the incident, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“We were able to arrest the suspect based on witnesses’ descriptions and he confessed that he plotted to murder Hanieneh because he thought that he had a hand in his arrest while he was in Russia in 2005,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The suspect also said in his initial confession, according to a police statement, that he believed that “the victim was also in charge of many of the troublesome times he experienced while working in Madaba”.

The suspect also ushered investigators to the place he had hidden the gun he allegedly used to murder Hanieneh.

The suspect was referred to the concerned authorities for further questioning and indictment, Sartawi said.

The suspect, A. H., a former engineer working in Madaba Municipality, allegedly posted several posts on his Facebook page accusing Hanieneh and other security agency officials of attempting to assassinate him. 

He claimed in early November of 2016 that the GID “attempted to kill him while he was in Russia in 2005 and were also responsible for his torture while under interrogation by the Russian authorities”.