US at war with Islam, says Fort Hood shooting suspect

Houston: The US Army psychiatrist awaiting court-martial for the deadly 2009 mass shooting on a Texas military base today said the "US is at war with Islam" and that he "regrets" his service in the army.

"My complicity was on behalf of a government that openly acknowledges that it would hate for the law of Almighty Allah to be the supreme law of the land," Maj Nidal Malik Hasan said in a statement released to Fox News.

He then asks rhetorically whether that amounts to a war on Islam, and then replies, "You bet it is and I participated in it."

"I would like to begin by repenting to Almighty Allah and apologise to the (Mujahedeen), the believers, and the innocent. I ask for their forgiveness and their prayers. I ask for their forgiveness for participating in the illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims, their religion and their lands," he said in the statement.

Hasan, of Palestinian origin, also criticised US policy in the Middle East towards the Palestinians.

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Hasan, 42, is charged with killing 13 people and injuring over 30 others in the November 5, 2009 attack at the Fort Hood army base and faces the death penalty if convicted.

It is believed to be the first lengthy statement by the shooting suspect, whose court martial begins on August 6.

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The judge in Hasan's case recently ruled that he cannot argue as part of his defence that the shooting was an effort to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan - the so-called "defence of others" strategy.

Hasan is serving as his own attorney and in that role has spoken more often during pre-trial hearings or jury selection.

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