Obama: no faith justified the killings at Fort Hood

President Barack Obama, speaking to 15,000 soldiers and friends gathered at Fort Hood yesterday, said no faith could justify the shooting spree by an American Muslim officer that left 13 dead at the Texas military base.

On the same day, the FBI admitted that its agents had been warned a year ago about Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old US Army psychiatrist who went on the rampage last Thursday. His name came up in in the course of an anti-terrorism inquiry - but it was decided he posed no danger.

FBI director Robert Mueller has now ordered an inquiry into why a series of 20 emails between Hasan and the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki were not followed up. Al-Awlaki, who fled to Yemen after it was revealed that he acted as 'spiritual adviser' to two of the 9/11 hijackers, wrote on his blog this week that Hasan was a hero for what he did.

Obama, who attended the memorial service with his wife Michele, said: "It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favour.

"And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next."

That 'justice' is likely to be the death penalty, if Hasan is convicted by a military court-martial of premeditated murder. According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, the case against Hasan could take months to prepare. "We're in for the long haul," an Army legal expert told the paper.

The President and the First Lady followed US military tradition and placed a coin in front of a photograph of each of the dead. They also offered their condolences to the families of each of the 13 deceased.

Meanwhile, the policewoman who brought the deadly rampage to an end by shooting Hasan four times, has had a second operation and is said to be recovering well from gunshot wounds. Well enough, according to some reports, that Sgt Kimberley Munley, nicknamed 'Mighty Mouse' by former colleagues, will appear on the the Oprah show today.