David Headley, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October, is proving to be an important link in unraveling the terror network.
Intelligence Bureau agents have informed the Mumbai [ Images ] police that Headley made several visits to the city. The police are now probing Headley's links with the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, IB sources told rediff.com
According to information available with the IB, Headley visited Mumbai in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He changed his name to David Headley from Daood Gilani around 2006.
Sources say Headley traveled on a business visa; he got in touch with a US firm which specialised in creating fake visas and passports. He located a similar firm in Tardeo, central Mumbai, which helped him procure fake travel documents.
With the help of these fake documents, Headley traveled to India [ Images ] at least five times. During each visit, he made it a point to visit the visa agency.
Headley was present in India when the terror attacks on Mumbai was being planned and he may have been aware of such a plan, the IB sources say.
If investigations reveal that Headley activated a local module to assist the 26/11 attacks, the Mumbai police may file an additional charge-sheet detailing this link, the sources added.
IB agents suspect Headley's brief in Mumbai was to establish a network of sleeper cells to assist terror attacks.
Headley also traveled to other states including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh [ Images ], using his business visa. The FBI has revealed that Headley had conducted a reconnaissance of the National Defence College in New Delhi where he planned a terror attack.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
China continues to protest Dalai's visit
10 Nov 2009
Beijing condemned Dalai Lama's visit Arunachal Pradesh saying on Tuesday (November 10), it is evidence of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leaders anti-China nature. However, sources in the government clarified that the Dalai Lama won't be involved in anything political and that his visit is spiritual. It is also said that there are no restrictions on his travel in any part of India.
"China strongly opposes the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. It fully exposed the anti-Chinese nature of the Dalai Lama. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction with India in allowing the Dalai Lama's visit to the disputed area," Qin Gang, Spokesperson, Chinese foreign ministry said.
A day after both the Indian government and the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama openly took a swipe at China, the Dragon has issued a veiled but audacious threat to India. In its state-run paper the People's Daily, China has said that India seems to have forgotten the lessons of 1962 war.
In a provocative article lashing out at India, China also said that Dalai Lama was being used by the Indian government to further its own agenda.
Here is what the People's daily has said, warning of a potential war-like situation: "India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes warning. India is on this wrong track again."
Attacking the Dalai Lama for his visit to Tawang, China has also accused the Indian government of using the Dalai Lama to push its own agenda and has once again warned that when the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it “in a way India has designed.”
"The Dalai Lama went to southern Tibet at this critical moment probably because of pressure from India. By doing so, he can please the country that has hosted him for years. The appearance and activities of the Dalai Lama in southern Tibet may foment anti-China sentiment among people living in the region. When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed,” a Chinese analyst Hu Shisheng, a researcher of Southern Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Sunday (November 9).
Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh was "just like a gentle breeze" which helped clear up the "suspicion and misunderstanding" clouding bilateral ties, the state-run media here said, seeking to reach out to India after breathing fire over Arunachal Pradesh. In its first positive assessment of the October 24 meeting between Singh and Wen on the margins of the ASEAN Summit in Thailand amid the Chinese protests over Arunachal Pradesh, an editorial in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling CPC, said the two Prime Ministers reached consensus that the two neighbours should forge a strategic partnership.
"The consensus between Premier Wen and Indian PM Singh is just like a gentle breeze, clearing up all the suspicion and misunderstanding that have hindered bilateral relations over the past decades," it said, two days after China blamed the Dalai Lama for the recent tension in Sino-India ties. The paper noted that during their meeting, Wen and Singh agreed that the two countries should forge a strategic partnership to maintain regional peace and stability, achieve the goal of common development and harmonious prosperity.
Beijing condemned Dalai Lama's visit Arunachal Pradesh saying on Tuesday (November 10), it is evidence of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leaders anti-China nature. However, sources in the government clarified that the Dalai Lama won't be involved in anything political and that his visit is spiritual. It is also said that there are no restrictions on his travel in any part of India.
"China strongly opposes the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. It fully exposed the anti-Chinese nature of the Dalai Lama. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction with India in allowing the Dalai Lama's visit to the disputed area," Qin Gang, Spokesperson, Chinese foreign ministry said.
A day after both the Indian government and the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama openly took a swipe at China, the Dragon has issued a veiled but audacious threat to India. In its state-run paper the People's Daily, China has said that India seems to have forgotten the lessons of 1962 war.
In a provocative article lashing out at India, China also said that Dalai Lama was being used by the Indian government to further its own agenda.
Here is what the People's daily has said, warning of a potential war-like situation: "India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes warning. India is on this wrong track again."
Attacking the Dalai Lama for his visit to Tawang, China has also accused the Indian government of using the Dalai Lama to push its own agenda and has once again warned that when the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it “in a way India has designed.”
"The Dalai Lama went to southern Tibet at this critical moment probably because of pressure from India. By doing so, he can please the country that has hosted him for years. The appearance and activities of the Dalai Lama in southern Tibet may foment anti-China sentiment among people living in the region. When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed,” a Chinese analyst Hu Shisheng, a researcher of Southern Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Sunday (November 9).
Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh was "just like a gentle breeze" which helped clear up the "suspicion and misunderstanding" clouding bilateral ties, the state-run media here said, seeking to reach out to India after breathing fire over Arunachal Pradesh. In its first positive assessment of the October 24 meeting between Singh and Wen on the margins of the ASEAN Summit in Thailand amid the Chinese protests over Arunachal Pradesh, an editorial in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling CPC, said the two Prime Ministers reached consensus that the two neighbours should forge a strategic partnership.
"The consensus between Premier Wen and Indian PM Singh is just like a gentle breeze, clearing up all the suspicion and misunderstanding that have hindered bilateral relations over the past decades," it said, two days after China blamed the Dalai Lama for the recent tension in Sino-India ties. The paper noted that during their meeting, Wen and Singh agreed that the two countries should forge a strategic partnership to maintain regional peace and stability, achieve the goal of common development and harmonious prosperity.
China "strongly dissatisfied" with India over Dalai Lama's visit to disputed region
2009-11-10
BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday said it is "strongly dissatisfied" with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to a disputed China-India border region.
"The Indian side allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed eastern section of the China-India border regardless of China's grave concerns, and China is strongly dissatisfied with this," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a news briefing.
Reports said the Dalai Lama arrived at the so-called "ArunachalPradesh", a disputed region of the China-India border, on Sunday.
"We firmly oppose the Dalai Lama's visit to the region," said Qin. The visit "fully exposes the Dalai Lama's separatist nature."
"His attempt will not succeed," Qin said.
BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday said it is "strongly dissatisfied" with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to a disputed China-India border region.
"The Indian side allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed eastern section of the China-India border regardless of China's grave concerns, and China is strongly dissatisfied with this," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a news briefing.
Reports said the Dalai Lama arrived at the so-called "ArunachalPradesh", a disputed region of the China-India border, on Sunday.
"We firmly oppose the Dalai Lama's visit to the region," said Qin. The visit "fully exposes the Dalai Lama's separatist nature."
"His attempt will not succeed," Qin said.
Bajaj, Renault bury hatchet; to announce details of ultra low cost car
10 Nov 2009
Bajaj Auto and Nissan-Renault have resolved their differences and are set to announce the details of the proposed joint venture for making the ultra Bajaj small car prototype
low-cost car on Tuesday. Nissan Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn met Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj Monday evening to settle issues relating to branding and the basic concept of the car that were delaying the project.
With Rajiv Bajaj being the only partner Mr Ghosn met in this current visit to India, it seems likely that the $2,500 car will be Nissan-Renault’s flagship project in India. The two partners have decided to go to market together with the ultra low-cost car. Nissan has a joint venture with Ashok Leyland for light trucks and Renault with Mahindra & Mahindra for the Logan sedan. Both these joint ventures are facing problems and Mr Ghosn had last month said it was possible that his group would end up with only one partner in India.
Announced in 2007, the Bajaj-Nissan-Renault partnership has been working on the small car for two years now. The project ran into hiccups over branding, product detail and concept issues. This summer Rajiv Bajaj went on record to say he had asked for all the work done on the project to be scrapped. He wanted major modifications on design, positioning and other details. The new concept that the team came up with has now met with Mr Ghosn’s approval as well.
Mr Ghosn’s India strategy has come under pressure lately because of the poor performance of the Logan sedan which Renault makes and markets in India in partnership with Mahindra & Mahindra.
Relations between Renault and M&M became strained with the Indian partner unhappy over its lack of control on product design. His other JV between Nissan and Ashok Leyland will also see a significant reduction in investment from the earlier announced $500 million.
At the ongoing World Economic Forum summit, Mr Ghosn admitted that there were problems with his partnerships in India but added that he was gung ho about the $2500 car which will compete with the Rs 1 lakh Tata Nano when it rolls out in 2011. He told ET Now on Sunday that Renault, which had earlier frozen overseas investments during the financial crisis, will now resume its investments in India including its share of the $1 billion new factory in Chennai which it will share with Nissan.
"We had suspended the second phase of Chennai investment until we could see where the global car market would end up," Mr Ghosn had said. "Now that the estimate is that the year will end with around 60 million units, up from around 55 million last year, we seem to have hit a plateau. So all plans of expansion can be resumed with a more solid understanding of the future. The Chennai plant will be inaugurated early 2010 and I will be there for it."
With the investment tap turned back on, the ultra low cost car is likely to be the biggest beneficiary. The $2500 car is crucial to Nissan Renault not only because it has been Mr Ghosn's pet dream since 2007 but also because it is at the center of his plan to make India a frugal engineering hub for the group. "I am absolutely convinced about not only the potential of the internal market in India, but also the potential of India as an exporter and also the potential of India as an important participant to the engineering effort and product planning effort of the group," Mr Ghosn had said on Sunday.
Renault had earlier reportedly invited Bajaj to be a part of its 49:51 JV with M&M but Mr Bajaj had turned down the offer. The Logan sedan, Renault's best-selling low cost car worldwide, did not succeed in India. Its product size made it ineligible for the small car excise benefits in India. Cars that are less than 4 metre long or have engines bigger than 1.2 litre for petrol and 1.5 litre for diesel, pay only 8% excise duty while bigger cars pay 20%. Logan sales have declined 69% during the April-September period to 2,901 vehicles.
Economic Times News
Bajaj Auto and Nissan-Renault have resolved their differences and are set to announce the details of the proposed joint venture for making the ultra Bajaj small car prototype
low-cost car on Tuesday. Nissan Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn met Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj Monday evening to settle issues relating to branding and the basic concept of the car that were delaying the project.
With Rajiv Bajaj being the only partner Mr Ghosn met in this current visit to India, it seems likely that the $2,500 car will be Nissan-Renault’s flagship project in India. The two partners have decided to go to market together with the ultra low-cost car. Nissan has a joint venture with Ashok Leyland for light trucks and Renault with Mahindra & Mahindra for the Logan sedan. Both these joint ventures are facing problems and Mr Ghosn had last month said it was possible that his group would end up with only one partner in India.
Announced in 2007, the Bajaj-Nissan-Renault partnership has been working on the small car for two years now. The project ran into hiccups over branding, product detail and concept issues. This summer Rajiv Bajaj went on record to say he had asked for all the work done on the project to be scrapped. He wanted major modifications on design, positioning and other details. The new concept that the team came up with has now met with Mr Ghosn’s approval as well.
Mr Ghosn’s India strategy has come under pressure lately because of the poor performance of the Logan sedan which Renault makes and markets in India in partnership with Mahindra & Mahindra.
Relations between Renault and M&M became strained with the Indian partner unhappy over its lack of control on product design. His other JV between Nissan and Ashok Leyland will also see a significant reduction in investment from the earlier announced $500 million.
At the ongoing World Economic Forum summit, Mr Ghosn admitted that there were problems with his partnerships in India but added that he was gung ho about the $2500 car which will compete with the Rs 1 lakh Tata Nano when it rolls out in 2011. He told ET Now on Sunday that Renault, which had earlier frozen overseas investments during the financial crisis, will now resume its investments in India including its share of the $1 billion new factory in Chennai which it will share with Nissan.
"We had suspended the second phase of Chennai investment until we could see where the global car market would end up," Mr Ghosn had said. "Now that the estimate is that the year will end with around 60 million units, up from around 55 million last year, we seem to have hit a plateau. So all plans of expansion can be resumed with a more solid understanding of the future. The Chennai plant will be inaugurated early 2010 and I will be there for it."
With the investment tap turned back on, the ultra low cost car is likely to be the biggest beneficiary. The $2500 car is crucial to Nissan Renault not only because it has been Mr Ghosn's pet dream since 2007 but also because it is at the center of his plan to make India a frugal engineering hub for the group. "I am absolutely convinced about not only the potential of the internal market in India, but also the potential of India as an exporter and also the potential of India as an important participant to the engineering effort and product planning effort of the group," Mr Ghosn had said on Sunday.
Renault had earlier reportedly invited Bajaj to be a part of its 49:51 JV with M&M but Mr Bajaj had turned down the offer. The Logan sedan, Renault's best-selling low cost car worldwide, did not succeed in India. Its product size made it ineligible for the small car excise benefits in India. Cars that are less than 4 metre long or have engines bigger than 1.2 litre for petrol and 1.5 litre for diesel, pay only 8% excise duty while bigger cars pay 20%. Logan sales have declined 69% during the April-September period to 2,901 vehicles.
Economic Times News
China says India has forgotten lessons of 1962 war
Mon, Nov 9 ANI
China says India has forgotten lessons of 1962 war
Tawang, Nov. 9 (ANI): While China has blamed New Delhi for trying to provoke Beijing by orchestrating Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama’s controversial visit to Arunachal Pradesh, India has rubbished the allegation.
“The Dalai Lama went to southern Tibet at this critical moment probably because of pressure from India. By doing so, he can please the country that has hosted him for years,” the People’s Daily quoted Hu Shisheng, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, as saying.
The report published in China’s state-run newspaper Global times even said that India seems to have forgotten the lessons of 1962 war.
“India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes warning. India is on this wrong track again…When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed,” Hu said.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, on Monday denied Chinese charges, pointing out that New Delhi does not deal with the travels of religious figures.
“The Dalai Lama is free to travel anywhere in India… I have not heard the suggestion comes from us as we do not deal with the spiritual travels of spiritual leaders. He has to visit his flock as he sees fit,” Tharoor told the India Economic Summit.
He added that he was “sure that the initiative (to visit Tawang) would have come from him”.
Tharoor also said that India had been “very generous” by giving over “58,000 business visas” to the Chinese.
“As far as our basic policy is concerned, we would certainly be hesitant to offer employment to a foreigner for a job which could be done by an Indian in India,” said Tharoor.
Earlier, addressing the mass at Arunachal’s Tawang, Dalai Lama said Beijing’s accusations that his visit was anti-China and damaging to India-China relations are “baseless”.
“My visit to Tawang is non-political and aimed at promoting universal brotherhood and nothing else,” the Nobel Peace laureate had said. (ANI)
China says India has forgotten lessons of 1962 war
Tawang, Nov. 9 (ANI): While China has blamed New Delhi for trying to provoke Beijing by orchestrating Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama’s controversial visit to Arunachal Pradesh, India has rubbished the allegation.
“The Dalai Lama went to southern Tibet at this critical moment probably because of pressure from India. By doing so, he can please the country that has hosted him for years,” the People’s Daily quoted Hu Shisheng, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, as saying.
The report published in China’s state-run newspaper Global times even said that India seems to have forgotten the lessons of 1962 war.
“India may have forgotten the lesson of 1962, when its repeated provocation resulted in military clashes warning. India is on this wrong track again…When the conflict gets sharper and sharper, the Chinese government will have to face it and solve it in a way India has designed,” Hu said.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, on Monday denied Chinese charges, pointing out that New Delhi does not deal with the travels of religious figures.
“The Dalai Lama is free to travel anywhere in India… I have not heard the suggestion comes from us as we do not deal with the spiritual travels of spiritual leaders. He has to visit his flock as he sees fit,” Tharoor told the India Economic Summit.
He added that he was “sure that the initiative (to visit Tawang) would have come from him”.
Tharoor also said that India had been “very generous” by giving over “58,000 business visas” to the Chinese.
“As far as our basic policy is concerned, we would certainly be hesitant to offer employment to a foreigner for a job which could be done by an Indian in India,” said Tharoor.
Earlier, addressing the mass at Arunachal’s Tawang, Dalai Lama said Beijing’s accusations that his visit was anti-China and damaging to India-China relations are “baseless”.
“My visit to Tawang is non-political and aimed at promoting universal brotherhood and nothing else,” the Nobel Peace laureate had said. (ANI)
Friday, November 6, 2009
13 killed and 30 injured at US Army base
06 Nov 2009
A US army officer called Major Nidal Malik Hasan has been named as the man responsible for killing 13 people and injuring 30
more in a mass shooting at a Texas military base.
Major Hasan, a military psychiatrist who had allegedly called for Muslims to attack Americans over the Iraq war, is critically ill and under guard in hospital.
CCTV images unearthed by US news broadcaster CNN appear to show Hasan in traditional Muslim clothing, including a prayer cap, in a shop on the base in the hours before the killings.
Fort Hood shooting: how the massacre unfolded
Nidal Malik Hasan 'wrote about suicide bombings' The authorities initially believed he had been killed in the ensuing gun battle with police but it later emerged he was still alive despite being shot four times in the incident at Fort Hood base, the largest American military installation in the world.
The serviceman was about to be posted to either Iraq or Afghanistan and argued regularly against the wars, it has been claimed.
Hasan, armed with two handguns, walked into a training centre and opened fire on fellow soldiers who were having last-minute medical check-ups before being deployed to Afghanistan. Thirteen were killed and 30 injured.
However, there were suggestions that some of the dead might have been shot by the authorities in their attempt to stop the gunman.
Hasan is now under guard in hospital where he is unconscious and on a ventilator.
A Muslim by birth, Hasan was born in Virginia, and his family is believed to have come from Jordan.
A former colleague, Col Terry Lee, said Hasan had fallen out with other soldiers on the base. He claimed that Hasan said he was “happy” when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June.
However, Hasan’s cousin said that he had been the victim of harassment but had never expressed violent sentiments.
“He never went to Iraq. He was dealing with people coming back, trying to help them with their trauma,” Nader Hasan said. “He was just normal, loved sports, never got into trouble.” He said his family was “shocked and baffled” by the incident.
Ten of the victims were soldiers and one was a civilian police officer. The identities of the other two are not known.
One of the victims was Amber Bahr, 19, who was shot in the stomach but was later in a stable condition in hospital.
Her mother Lisa Pfund of Wisconsin said: "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly."
Earlier, gunfire erupted around the base as two men, thought to have been accomplices, were captured. Police feared there may have been more than one gunman but the two soldiers were later released.
More than 500 soldiers were deployed to lock down Fort Hood as helicopters hovered overhead. Lt Gen Bob Cone, the base’s commander, said: “It has been a terrible tragedy, it’s stunning.
“Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.
“The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter.”
The shootings took place in the 'soldier readiness center', a former sports dome, where soldiers are sent for final checks before being sent overseas. As well as soldiers about to be deployed, those returning and undergoing medical screening would have been there.
The attack happened shortly before a graduation ceremony for soldiers was due to start at the base.
President Barack Obama, speaking from Washington, described the attack as a “horrific outburst of violence.”
He said: “These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times, give their lives to protect us. It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women overseas. It is horrifying when we lose them on American soil.”
Officials are examining the possibility that some casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire" according to a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hasan had transferred to Fort Hood in July from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said generals at Fort Hood told her that Hasan was about to deploy overseas. Retired Col Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News he was being sent to Afghanistan.
Fort Hood is one of America’s most important bases for training its forces and tens of thousands of soldiers go through every year.
It covers an area of 340 sq miles near Killeen, some 50 miles from Waco, Texas. There are up to 65,000 people, including military families, on the site at any one time.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said: “Our dedicated military personnel have sacrificed so much in service to our country and it sickens me that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this senseless, random violence.”
John Carter, a local Republican congressman, said: “I had a man on the scene, who is the former chaplain at Fort Hood. He was waiting to go to a graduation ceremony when a soldier came running up to him saying somebody was shooting. He heard small arms and rifle fire.”
Fort Hood has also been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Mr Carter said.
Base commanders and the Pentagon said they had no early indication of a motive for the shootings.
The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September last year a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot dead his lieutenant and then killed himself.
Five American soldiers also died in Baghdad earlier this year in a shooting by one of their comrades at a combat stress clinic. It had been set up following criticism that the US military had not done enough to treat soldiers who had undergone repeated tours of duty.
Fort Hood is close to the site of one of the worst mass shootings in American history. On October 16, 1991, George Hennard smashed his pickup truck through a window of Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people and wounding at least 20 others
A US army officer called Major Nidal Malik Hasan has been named as the man responsible for killing 13 people and injuring 30
more in a mass shooting at a Texas military base.
Major Hasan, a military psychiatrist who had allegedly called for Muslims to attack Americans over the Iraq war, is critically ill and under guard in hospital.
CCTV images unearthed by US news broadcaster CNN appear to show Hasan in traditional Muslim clothing, including a prayer cap, in a shop on the base in the hours before the killings.
Fort Hood shooting: how the massacre unfolded
Nidal Malik Hasan 'wrote about suicide bombings' The authorities initially believed he had been killed in the ensuing gun battle with police but it later emerged he was still alive despite being shot four times in the incident at Fort Hood base, the largest American military installation in the world.
The serviceman was about to be posted to either Iraq or Afghanistan and argued regularly against the wars, it has been claimed.
Hasan, armed with two handguns, walked into a training centre and opened fire on fellow soldiers who were having last-minute medical check-ups before being deployed to Afghanistan. Thirteen were killed and 30 injured.
However, there were suggestions that some of the dead might have been shot by the authorities in their attempt to stop the gunman.
Hasan is now under guard in hospital where he is unconscious and on a ventilator.
A Muslim by birth, Hasan was born in Virginia, and his family is believed to have come from Jordan.
A former colleague, Col Terry Lee, said Hasan had fallen out with other soldiers on the base. He claimed that Hasan said he was “happy” when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June.
However, Hasan’s cousin said that he had been the victim of harassment but had never expressed violent sentiments.
“He never went to Iraq. He was dealing with people coming back, trying to help them with their trauma,” Nader Hasan said. “He was just normal, loved sports, never got into trouble.” He said his family was “shocked and baffled” by the incident.
Ten of the victims were soldiers and one was a civilian police officer. The identities of the other two are not known.
One of the victims was Amber Bahr, 19, who was shot in the stomach but was later in a stable condition in hospital.
Her mother Lisa Pfund of Wisconsin said: "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly."
Earlier, gunfire erupted around the base as two men, thought to have been accomplices, were captured. Police feared there may have been more than one gunman but the two soldiers were later released.
More than 500 soldiers were deployed to lock down Fort Hood as helicopters hovered overhead. Lt Gen Bob Cone, the base’s commander, said: “It has been a terrible tragedy, it’s stunning.
“Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.
“The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter.”
The shootings took place in the 'soldier readiness center', a former sports dome, where soldiers are sent for final checks before being sent overseas. As well as soldiers about to be deployed, those returning and undergoing medical screening would have been there.
The attack happened shortly before a graduation ceremony for soldiers was due to start at the base.
President Barack Obama, speaking from Washington, described the attack as a “horrific outburst of violence.”
He said: “These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times, give their lives to protect us. It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women overseas. It is horrifying when we lose them on American soil.”
Officials are examining the possibility that some casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire" according to a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hasan had transferred to Fort Hood in July from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said generals at Fort Hood told her that Hasan was about to deploy overseas. Retired Col Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News he was being sent to Afghanistan.
Fort Hood is one of America’s most important bases for training its forces and tens of thousands of soldiers go through every year.
It covers an area of 340 sq miles near Killeen, some 50 miles from Waco, Texas. There are up to 65,000 people, including military families, on the site at any one time.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said: “Our dedicated military personnel have sacrificed so much in service to our country and it sickens me that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this senseless, random violence.”
John Carter, a local Republican congressman, said: “I had a man on the scene, who is the former chaplain at Fort Hood. He was waiting to go to a graduation ceremony when a soldier came running up to him saying somebody was shooting. He heard small arms and rifle fire.”
Fort Hood has also been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Mr Carter said.
Base commanders and the Pentagon said they had no early indication of a motive for the shootings.
The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September last year a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot dead his lieutenant and then killed himself.
Five American soldiers also died in Baghdad earlier this year in a shooting by one of their comrades at a combat stress clinic. It had been set up following criticism that the US military had not done enough to treat soldiers who had undergone repeated tours of duty.
Fort Hood is close to the site of one of the worst mass shootings in American history. On October 16, 1991, George Hennard smashed his pickup truck through a window of Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people and wounding at least 20 others
Rupee strengthens to over one-week high
6 November 2009
MUMBAI: The rupee strengthened to its highest in more than a week on Friday as traders sold dollars on expectations of gains in the local sharemarket and watched the US unit's moves versus majors for direction.
At 9:30 am, the partially convertible rupee was at 46.78/79 per dollar, off an early high of 46.7650, its strongest since October 27 and half a per cent above its previous close of 47.0150/0250.
"Stocks are up globally, which is supporting sentiment for the rupee as well," a senior dealer at a private bank said, predicting a range of 46.70-46.90 for the day.
At 0400 GMT, the MSCI index of Asian stocks ex-Japan was 1.7% higher, while the Nifty India stock futures traded in Singapore were up 0.9%.
Local shares are set to open higher, mirroring the rise in world equities after better-than-expected US jobs data bolstered investor confidence in the global economy.
Foreign funds have so far this year purchased a net $14.2 billion worth of Indian shares, helping the rupee recover from a record low of 52.2 in early March.
Last year, they had sold more than a net $13 billion, pushing the rupee down by a fifth. The dollar held steady on Friday with investors consolidating positions ahead of October non-farm payrolls data due later in the session, a report that would highlight the durability of an economic recovery.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward rupee contracts were quoting at 46.74/84, marginally stronger than the onshore spot rate, suggesting a bullish outlook in the near term.
MUMBAI: The rupee strengthened to its highest in more than a week on Friday as traders sold dollars on expectations of gains in the local sharemarket and watched the US unit's moves versus majors for direction.
At 9:30 am, the partially convertible rupee was at 46.78/79 per dollar, off an early high of 46.7650, its strongest since October 27 and half a per cent above its previous close of 47.0150/0250.
"Stocks are up globally, which is supporting sentiment for the rupee as well," a senior dealer at a private bank said, predicting a range of 46.70-46.90 for the day.
At 0400 GMT, the MSCI index of Asian stocks ex-Japan was 1.7% higher, while the Nifty India stock futures traded in Singapore were up 0.9%.
Local shares are set to open higher, mirroring the rise in world equities after better-than-expected US jobs data bolstered investor confidence in the global economy.
Foreign funds have so far this year purchased a net $14.2 billion worth of Indian shares, helping the rupee recover from a record low of 52.2 in early March.
Last year, they had sold more than a net $13 billion, pushing the rupee down by a fifth. The dollar held steady on Friday with investors consolidating positions ahead of October non-farm payrolls data due later in the session, a report that would highlight the durability of an economic recovery.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward rupee contracts were quoting at 46.74/84, marginally stronger than the onshore spot rate, suggesting a bullish outlook in the near term.
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