By Haaretz News Service
November 8, 2009

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others in Fort Hood, Texas, prayed at the same mosque as two of the September 11 terrorists, according to a report published in the Sunday Telegraph.

Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001, at the same time as the two terrorists, and the FBI may investigate whether Hasan met them, the Telegraph reported.

Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni, who has been accused of supporting attacks on British troops and supporting terrorist organizations, was the mosque's imam at the time. 

Al-Awlaki moved to Virginia from the West Coast, and three months later September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services, the Telegraph reported.

A fellow Muslim officer at Fort Hood told the newspaper that Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for the controversial imam's teachings.

Hasan's grandfather on Saturday said he found it impossible to believe his grandson had committed the act.

"He is a doctor and loves the U.S.," Ismail Mustafa Hamad said from his home in the Palestinian town of al-Bireh. "America made him what he is."
Hasan, who was shot during last Thursday's attack at Fort Hood, was in a coma under guard at a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and was said to be in a "stable" condition.

Hasan opened fire using two guns including a semi-automatic weapon, apparently without warning, at Fort Hood base, where troops were getting medical checkups before leaving for foreign deployments.

Hasan was transferred to Fort Hood in April and was to have been deployed to Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is fighting Taliban and al-Qaida.

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