WEST BANK: Palestinian cousin says Texas shooting suspect suffered harassment in military

Record ID: 561103

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinian cousin says Texas shooting suspect suffered harassment in military
  • Date: 8th November 2009
  • Summary: EL BIREH, NEAR RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 7, 2009) (REUTERS) MOHAMMED HASAN, COUSIN OF SUSPECTED TEXAS SHOOTER MAJOR NIDAL HASAN SITTING IN HIS HOUSE WATCHING TELEVISION REPORTS ABOUT TEXAS SHOOTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED HASAN, COUSIN OF SUSPECTED TEXAS SHOOTER MAJOR NIDAL HASAN SAYING "It is impossible that he would be affiliated with a certain group, or something like that. He was a religious man, he prays and fasts, like any other normal Muslim." FAMILY PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED HASAN, COUSIN OF SUSPECTED TEXAS SHOOTER MAJOR NIDAL HASAN SAYING "He faced some harassment from American soldiers he was treating who came back from wars. They harassed him because he was Arab and a religious Muslim. That bothered him to the degree that recently he decided to leave the army." MOHAMMED HASAN HOLDING TELEVISION REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED HASAN, COUSIN OF SUSPECTED TEXAS SHOOTER MAJOR NIDAL HASAN SAYING "About a week before the incident, he hired a lawyer in order to leave the army, get married and live his life. But they rejected his request, and asked him to go to Afghanistan. This was the biggest shock for him. So there is another reason why he did what he did, not just because of the harassment of the soldiers, there is another reason." HASAN WATCHING US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SPEAKING ABOUT TEXAS SHOOTING
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACDMFQWVC5PYRBVGO50OGCFVV6
  • Story Text: Palestinian cousin of Texas shooting suspect says peer suffered from religious and ethnical harassment during his military service.
    The cousin of a U.S. Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others at a base in Texas said on Saturday (November 7) that Hasan faced harassment in the military, due to his religion and ethnic background.
    Mohammed Hasan, cousin of suspected gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan, told Reuters that though Hasan was a devout Muslim, he was never affiliated with any religious group.
    "It is impossible that he would be affiliated with a certain group, or something like that. He was a religious man, he prays and fasts, like any other normal Muslim," Hasan told Reuters in the West Bank village of El-Bireh.
    The gunman, with two guns including a semi-automatic weapon, opened fire apparently without warning at the crowded Soldiers Readiness Processing Center, where troops were getting medical check-ups before leaving for foreign deployments.
    Hasan had spent years counselling severely wounded soldiers, many of whom had lost limbs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cousin added that these patients would often harass him because of his religion and ethnic group.
    "He faced some harassment from American soldiers he was treating who came back from wars. They harassed him because he was Arab and a religious Muslim. That bothered him to the degree that recently he decided to leave the army," the cousin said.
    Hasan was shot four times by police and was unconscious but in stable condition in hospital in San Antonio, Texas, said Colonel John Rossi, a spokesman at the Fort Hood army base, the biggest military facility in the world.
    He was transferred to Fort Hood in April and was to have been deployed to Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is engaged in an increasingly bloody war against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.
    Hasan added that his cousin had hired a lawyer in order to avoid being sent to Afghanistan.
    "About a week before the incident, he hired a lawyer in order to leave the army, get married and live his life. But they rejected his request, and asked him to go to Afghanistan. This was the biggest shock for him. So there is another reason why he did what he did, not just because of the harassment of the soldiers, there is another reason," he said.
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