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Obama to Congress: Hold off on Hood probe

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday urged members of Congress not to turn the investigation into the Fort Hood massacre into "political theater."

In his weekly radio and Internet address, released by the White House during the president's Asia trip, Obama renewed his pledge to thoroughly investigate the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded dozens more at the sprawling Texas Army base.

As some lawmakers planned or called for congressional investigations, Obama urged them to wait and allow federal intelligence agencies, law enforcement and the military to gather and examine evidence in one of the deadliest shootings ever on a U.S. military base.

"I know there will also be inquiries by Congress, and there should," Obama said. "But all of us should resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater that sometimes dominates the discussion here in Washington. The stakes are far too high."

Obama said the background, views and possible motives of the gunman would be scrutinized to reveal "potential warning signs that may have been known" before the shootings.

The military has charged Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, with 13 counts of premeditated murder. After he opened fire, two civilian police officers shot and wounded him, and he appears to be paralyzed from the waist down, his lawyer said.

Since the shootings, troubling details about Hasan's past have emerged. For example, he had repeated e-mail contacts last year with a radical Muslim cleric who praised Hasan after the shootings as a "hero" for "doing the right thing," investigators say. In 2007, Hasan said Muslim soldiers shouldn't have to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq because they'd be fighting fellow Muslims, The Washington Post reported. And fellow doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington suggested Hasan might be psychotic and worried about his extremist Islamic views, National Public Radio said.

"We must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information," Obama said. "Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability.

"Most importantly," he added, "we must quickly and thoroughly evaluate and address any flaws in the system so that we can prevent a similar breach from happening again. Our government must be able to act swiftly and surely when it has threatening information. And our troops must have the security that they deserve."

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Trial draws mixed reaction from families

NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Families of those who died in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, had mixed reactions to news the alleged planners would be tried in a federal court in Manhattan.

Jim Riches, a retired deputy chief in the New York Fire Department, lost his firefighter son, Jimmy, at the World Trade Center.

"Let them come to New York," he told The New York Times. "Let them get on trial. Let's do it the right way, for all the world to see what they're like. Let's go. It's been too long. Let's get some justice."

Others said the accused terrorists should be tried in military tribunals or executed without formalities.

Margit Arias-Kastell, whose husband, Adam, worked in the World Trade Center, and scores of other bereaved relatives signed a statement opposing a civilian trial.

"It's totally unfair," Arias-Kastell said. "Why do we have to constantly relive this? When do we get to be at peace? They should be hung."

The American Civil Liberties Union released a statement calling the decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others in federal court "a huge victory for restoring due process and the process of law."

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10 killed in Peshawar suicide bombing

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A suspected suicide car bomber killed 10 people in the Pakistani city of Peshawar Saturday, Britain's Sky News reported.

Citing unnamed sources, the broadcaster said the bomber is thought to have triggered the device when he was stopped by a policeman for a search.

The attack comes only a day after another suicide bombing in Peshawar destroyed the provincial headquarters of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence spy agency. Officials have indicated that blast killed at least 17 people and injured 39 others.

Sky News said Peshawar, capital of the country's North West Frontier Province and near Taliban militant strongholds, has been targeted more frequently by bombings since the Pakistani Army began a major offensive in neighboring tribal regions.

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Turkey offers to store Iran's uranium

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Turkey is proposing to store some of Iran's enriched uranium in the latest sign of warming relations between the Muslim countries, the BBC reported Saturday.

The broadcaster, without citing sources, reported that Turkey and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency are discussing a proposal wherein Ankara would agree to store Iranian uranium shipped abroad to be reprocessed for civilian uses.

Western critics say the amount of uranium Iran is enriching is sufficient to produce a nuclear weapon, and it is facing international pressure to accept an offer from Russia and France to reprocess the uranium abroad. But Iran has been reluctant to do so, and Turkey's entry into the picture may help overcome the deadlock with the U.N. Security Council, the BBC said.

Alarm bells were reportedly raised in the West last month when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warmly received Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Tehran. It's the latest example of Turkey's ambitions to become a Mideast power broker and influence events in the region, the British broadcaster said.