Intelligence agencies intercepted communications between the man accused of the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre and a radical imam, officials said Monday.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of shooting to death 13 people at the facility's Soldier Readiness Center, and cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who was an imam at a mosque in suburban Virginia where Hasan worshiped but now lives in Yemen.
Officials weren't clear about what the exchanges were or whether they provided a clue about Hasan's views or emotional state, The New York Times reported.
Aulaqi reportedly crossed paths with al-Qaida figures, including two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, The Washington Post reported.
Since Aulaqi left Falls Church, Va., mosque in 2002 for Yemen, his lectures promoting strategies of an al-Qaida military leader were found in computer files of suspects in terrorism cases in the United States, Canada and Britain, officials said. It is not clear whether Hasan knew the imam well then, or only later through his Internet-based lectures.
The exchanges provide the first indication the Army psychiatrist communicated with the cleric, who Monday praised the major on his Web site, saying he "did the right thing," the Times reported.
"He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people," Aulaqi posted on his Web site.
U.S. officials said the communications did not change the most likely scenario that Hasan acted alone, the Times said.
In an interview with ABC News Monday, President Barack Obama declined to say directly whether he was concerned that the federal government may have had an internal communication failure. He said he would not comment further until the matter is investigated
"We are going to complete this investigation and we're going to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again," he said.
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