Feds Eye Hasan Link to 9/11 Imam

'Spiritual' adviser is 'radicalizer of first order,' says official
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2009 3:31 AM CST
Updated Nov 9, 2009 7:53 AM CST
Feds Eye Hasan Link to 9/11 Imam
Col. Kimberly Kesling, of Boise, Idaho, talks last week about working with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas.   (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Federal investigators are probing a connection between Fort Hood rampage suspect Nidal Malik Hasan and the Muslim imam who was spiritual adviser to two 9/11 terrorists. Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in northern Virginia in 2001 when it was led by Anwar al-Aulaqi. The US-born imam, who now lives in Yemen, is a major supporter of Al Qaeda. Hasan "connections to Aulaqi would be problematic on many levels," said a counter-terrorism official, who called the imam "a radicalizer of the first order."

It's not yet clear how well Hasan may have known Aulaqi. Investigators say they are still operating on the theory that Hasan acted alone when he shot dead 13 at Fort Hood. But they are continuing to investigate his associates and the radical Islamist web sites he visited. "There's a massive effort here to look at the web sites," a law enforcement official told the Washington Post. "The jury's still out on motivation." (More Nidal Malik Hasan stories.)

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