The military psychiatrist accused of shooting 13 people dead during a rampage at a the US Army base Fort Hood is awake and talking, hospital staff have announced.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was in a coma after being shot several times by a civilian police officer responding to the attack at Fort Hood in Texas last Thursday.

But officials at the Brooke Army Medical Centre in San Antonio confirmed on Monday that he was conscious.

Maria Gallegos, spokeswoman for the hospital, said: 'He is conversing with the medical staff.'

Ms Gallegos added that she was not sure if the suspect had spoken to investigators yet.

Hasan awoke as it was revealed that he apparently attended the same Virginia mosque as two September 11 hijackers in 2001, a time when a radical imam preached there.

Whether Hasan associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

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