Chattanooga gunman's uncle arrested in Jordan

Jordanian intelligence services have detained a university lecturer in connection to an attack that killed four marines and a sailor in Tennessee, USA, last week.

Assaa Ibrahim al-Haj Ali is the uncle of the suspect of the attack, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, and has been detained since last Friday, his lawyer said.

Abdulazeez killed five military personnel at two military centres in Chattanooga and was killed during a shootout with police.

"The intelligence services have been illegally detaining my client... since Friday," said Abdelkader al-Khatib, a lawyer for Ali.

Last year, Abdulazeez stayed with his uncle and worked at his mobile telephone shop for several months, the lawyer said.

US authorities were interested in knowing more about that visit to better understand the gunman's state of mind, Khatib added.

The lawyer said that the family had been surprised by Abdulazeez's actions.

"He was a normal person not a radical," he said.

Ali was released after being questioned on Friday, and rearrested the following day having his home searched and laptop and mobile phone seized.

"My client was arrested illegally... without any accusation," Khatib said.

Authorities in the kingdom said that the gunman, who was born in Kuwait, did not have Jordanian citizenship, and only the travel papers it issues to stateless Palestinians.