HOUSTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Army has charged a  military psychiatrist with 13 counts of murder in last week’s  shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army base, which shocked the  country as it prepared to celebrate Veterans Day.

An Army spokesman said yesterday that Major Nidal Malik  Hasan, 39, a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant  parents, was charged with murdering the 13 victims of the Nov.  5 rampage at Fort Hood, the world’s biggest military facility.

He could face the death penalty and the case has drawn  criticism of army intelligence after it it became known that  Hasan had been in contact with an Islamic figure sympathetic to  al Qaeda.

President Barack Obama has ordered a review of how U.S.  intelligence agencies handled information they may have  gathered about Hasan following questions about whether  authorities may have missed warning signs about him.

Hasan is undergoing treatment at the Brooke Army Medical  Center in San Antonio, Texas for wounds from the gunshots that  took him down during the attack.

If convicted of premeditated murder by a military court he  could face the death penalty, a U.S. military official said.
The Army is not ruling out bringing future charges against  Hasan. “We are doing everything possible and we are looking at  every reason for this shooting,” said Chris Grey, a spokesman  for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.
Hasan’s lawyer, retired Col. John Galligan, did not respond  to repeated requests for comment.

Intelligence agencies learned that Hasan had contacts with  an Islamist sympathetic to al Qaeda and relayed the information  to law enforcement authorities before last week’s attack.  Officials have said no action was taken.

Obama sent a memorandum to the secretary of defense,  directors of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of  Investigation dated Nov. 10 and released on Thursday. In it he  said he ordered the review the day after the shooting.

“I directed that an immediate inventory be conducted of all  intelligence in U.S. Government files that existed prior to  November 6, 2009, relevant to the tragic shooting at Fort Hood,  Texas, especially anything having to do with the alleged  shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, U.S. Army,” Obama said.

The president also ordered an immediate review of how  intelligence was handled and shared between the intelligence  agencies and other government departments.