Extremist religious leader educated killer major

Birmingham Star Sunday 8th November, 2009

The Sunday Telegraph has reported the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas earlier this week was linked with radical imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a “spiritual adviser” to three of the hijackers who attacked America on September 11, 2001.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan attended al-Awlaki’s Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists.

Anwar al-Awlaki is an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organizations.

A fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday’s horrific shooting spree told the Telegraph that Hasan’s eyes used to light up when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki’s teachings.

Relatives said that the death of Hasan’s parents, in 1998 and 2001, turned him more devout.