AMMAN, Jordan
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Friday that his country was awaiting results of U.S. police investigations into this week's murder of two Jordanians of Palestinian descent in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
On Twitter, Judeh described the murder on Tuesday night of two Jordanians and a Syrian national in North Carolina's town of Chapel Hill as "horrifying and regretful."
In a Friday statement, Jordan's Foreign Ministry urged Jordanian nationals in the U.S. to take precautions during what it described as a "delicate and sensitive time."
"The Jordanian embassy in Washington is closely following… investigations of this horrid crime," the ministry said.
Jordanian activists have called for staging a Saturday rally in Amman to condemn the "American criminal who killed three Muslims in cold blood."
On Wednesday, a 46-year-old man – a neighbor of the victims – was charged with murdering the trio.
On Tuesday night, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were all fatally shot at the University of North Carolina's residential complex in Chapel Hill.
The accused, Craig Stephen Hicks, turned himself in to police following the murders.
Chapel Hill police did not provide a motive for the triple homicide, but the fact that the victims were Muslims – along with recent online comments by Hicks in which he appeared to denigrate religion – has led to speculation that the murders constituted a "hate crime."
