Fort Hood shooter 'stable' in hospital

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A US Army spokesman says the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at the Fort Hood army post in Texas last week is in a critical but stable condition.

Spokesman Col John Rossi told reporters at Fort Hood on Sunday that Major Nidal Malik Hasan is still hospitalised in Texas. He was taken off a ventilator on Saturday.

Hasan was shot during an exchange of gunfire during Thursday's attack. The military moved him on Friday to Brooke Medical Centre in San Antonio, about 240km southwest of Fort Hood.

Thirteen people were killed and 29 others wounded in Thursday's attack at the US Army base.

BACKLASH FEAR

The US Army's top general expressed concern on Sunday that the Fort Hood shooting could fuel a backlash in the military against Muslim troops.

General George Casey, US Army chief of staff, cautioned against jumping to conclusions about whether religious beliefs motivated the accused gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant parents.

"I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers. And I've asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that," Casey told CNN's State of the Union.

There are about 3000 Muslims on active duty military service or in the National Guard or reserve forces, Casey said. They remain a small minority within the US military.

A Fort Hood official has said Hasan yelled "Allahu Akbar" - Arabic for "God is Greatest" - just before the shooting in which 13 people were killed. The 39-year-old US Army psychiatrist was shot four times by police.

Relatives have said Hasan wanted to leave the Army to avoid being deployed to Afghanistan and that he had faced harassment by fellow soldiers because of his religion.

Casey was not specific about the type of backlash he feared against Muslims in the military, or who might lead a backlash.

The shootings at the sprawling Army base marked the latest blow to the US military, which has been under enormous strain this decade as troops served repeated long combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those wars also have raised hostility toward the United States among many Muslims worldwide.

"Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse," Casey added on NBC's Meet the Press programme.

Asked whether Muslims in the US Army are more conflicted than other soldiers in fighting wars in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, Casey said: "I think that's something that we have to look at on an individual basis."

"But," he added, "I think we as an Army have to be broad enough to bring in people from all walks of life."

Casey declined to say what the Army knew about Hasan's behavioUr before Thursday's rampage, saying those questions will be addressed by investigators looking into the crime.

- with Reuters

- AP