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Fort Hood suspect had link with radical cleric
by Arushi Chaudhary - November 10, 2009 - comments
Army psychiatrist Maj Nidal Malik Hasan responsible for the Fort Hood shooting is said to have links with the radical clerics
Washington, November 10 -- Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of carrying out a shoot out at Fort Hood army post, is reported to have ties with an anti-American cleric based in Yemen.
The intelligence agencies have intercepted emails exchanged between Maj Nidal Malik Hasan and a radical cleric in Yemen. The cleric Hasan is said to be in contact with called for jihad against the United States.
On FBI’s radar, but ignored
The FBI website claims that Hasan first attracted the security agency’s attention during a probe into a terror suspect overseas, done in co-ordination with other agencies in December.
However, the federal authorities did not take the investigations any further after concluding that the messages exchanged between Hasan and the anti-American cleric did not pose any potential threat, the officials informed on Monday.
“The content of those communications was consistent with research being conducted by Hasan in his position as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Medical Center,” the FBI website said. The ‘benign’ e-mails led FBI to believe that Hasan was not a part of any terrorist activities.
The cleric connection
A federal law enforcement official, who did not wish to disclose his identity, informed that the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who Hasan was in touch with, gave sermons at a mosque in Falls Church till 2002, after which he shifted to Yemen.
Hasan came in contact with al-Awlaki back in 2001 in Dar Al-Hijrah mosque, where Hasan worshipped and al-Awlaki preached.
Hailed ‘a hero’
Awlaki has hailed Hasan ‘a hero’, for executing a shoot-out at Fort Hood.
In his blog, the cleric says, “He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.”
No co-conspirators
However, the FBI officials are of the opinion that Hasan carried out the Fort Hood shooting on his own, and that the act did not have the backing of any terror groups, nor did it entail any co-conspirators.
To be tried in military court
Considering that Hasan was a part of the armed services, he will be tried in a military court. His lawyer, retired colonel John Galligan, said he was looking to interact with Hasan.
"Until I meet with him, it's best to say we're just going to protect all of his rights,” Galligan said. He added that he will also try to ensure that Hasan is not interrogated as long as he is in the military hospital at San Antonio.