Jordan Authorities Free Uncle of Chattanooga Gunman

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/us/jordan-authorities-free-uncle-of-chattanooga-gunman.html

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AMMAN, Jordan — The uncle of the gunman who killed five servicemen last week in Chattanooga, Tenn., was released Thursday after being held since last Friday by Jordanian security services, his lawyer here and a family representative in Tennessee said as American investigators continued to review the man’s recent stay in Jordan as part of their search for a motive.

Mohammod Abdelazeez, a Kuwaiti-born American citizen who was killed by the police during his deadly rampage at two military facilities in Tennessee, spent several months last year at the Amman home of the uncle, As’ad Ibrahim As’ad Haj Ali, who is also a naturalized citizen of the United States.

The family representative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that he had spoken to Mr. Ali and that he had been freed without being charged. The Jordanian lawyer, Abed al-Kader Ahmad al-Khateeb, said that Mr. Ali’s father, the gunman’s grandfather, had told him Thursday night that his client was at home, exhausted from the ordeal, and declined interview requests.

Mr. Ali, 40, who was also born in Kuwait, moved to Jordan in 2010 to care for his aging parents after 16 years in the United States. He earned a chemical engineering degree from Virginia Tech University and an M.B.A. from George Mason University, eventually becoming chief operating officer of Carney Inc., a consulting firm in Alexandria, Va., the family representative said. He started and runs Global Trade Express, which focuses on internationalizing businesses in the Middle East, according to a post on bayt.com, a jobs website.

Mr. Abdelazeez, 24, was sent to Jordan last year to get away from drugs, alcohol and other bad influences, the family representative said, with his uncle and grandfather keeping close watch. Mr. Khateeb said the younger man worked with Mr. Ali in a mobile-phone business.