Jordanian authorities have said they are detaining the prime suspect in the Jamey Carney murder case for 15 days, after being alerted by Irish authorities that he was in the country.

In a statement, Jordan’s ministries of interior and justice on Thursday said their government was notified by ‘Irish authorities’ that a Jordanian citizen was suspected of killing the American woman.

Ms Carney, a 43-year-old mother of a 13-year-old girl, was found dead in an upstairs room at her rented home on the Muckross Road, Killarney, Co. Kerry, on Tuesday, July 7, following a violent assault.

The following Tuesday, a man believed to be Ms Carney’s boyfriend, an asylum-seeker called Ahmad Al-Saqar, 28, was arrested in Jordan although his detention was not sought by gardaí investigating the murder. Gardaí have described him as a ‘person of interest’ in the murder. Sources say he is the chief suspect.

Jordan did not name the suspect as Mr Al-Saqar, but said ‘initial investigations indicate that a Jordanian citizen is suspected of committing the crime’.

The statement said: ‘The security authorities immediately launched search and investigation operations and tracked the suspect after locating his residence and whereabouts.

‘He was arrested, his statement was taken according to standard procedures, and he was then referred to the Public Prosecutor of the Major Criminal Court, who initiated the investigation and ordered his detention for 15 days at the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre to continue the investigation.’

Mr Al-Saqar is believed to have left Ireland in the hours after the death of Ms Carney, taking an early morning bus from Killarney to Dublin and then a taxi from the city centre to Dublin Airport, before boarding a flight to Turkey and then travelling onwards toward his home town in western Jordan.

Gardaí became aware of Ms Carney’s death at 1pm on July 7, as Mr Al-Saqar’s plane was already on the way to Istanbul.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau has stated that Mr Al-Saqar had travelled from the UK to Ireland in 2024 from the North before moving to an IPAS centre in Killarney.

Ms Carney had been living in the Kerry town with her daughter for three years at the time and later became romantically involved with Mr Al-Saqar.

Ireland has no extradition agreement with Jordan and an individual can only be transported back here if they are charged in court for a crime with a sentence longer than one year.

The early stage of the murder investigation and the fact that no one has been charged means that, despite his detention, potentially extraditing Mr Al-Saqar may be a complex and drawn-out process, although he could be held under Jordanian law for months without charge.

The FBI has offered its assistance in the investigation and once a file is sent to the DPP by gardaí, only then can Mr Al-Saqar be charged here and extradited.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said there are ‘innovative mechanisms’ available to gardaí to potentially question a suspect in the murder case.

Asked if there was any chance of gardaí being able to question the suspect, Mr O’Callaghan said: ‘I think there are mechanisms, innovative mechanisms, available that could enable the gardaí to question the suspect out in Jordan, and even perhaps being able to bring him back.’ However, he said he had no timeline for this.

Mourners at Ms Carney’s funeral in Killarney on Wednesday heard she was a ‘kind person’ and that her family had the support of the whole community.

Fr Kieran O’Brien said the congregation ‘won’t dwell on Jamey’s death, but we dwell on her life’.

Addressing Ms Carney’s daughter, Fr O’Brien said: ‘At a time like this, the close community of Killarney rally around you, acknowledging the support that you have received from friends, neighbours, visitors on holidays, and even people you don’t know.’