US: Fort Hood gunman sentenced to death

A military jury has sentenced a former US army psychiatrist to death by lethal injection for murdering 13 soldiers and wounding 32 others at a Texas army base. Nidal Hasan, 42, was convicted last week of the November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood. He had tried to admit his guilt, but military laws ban guilty pleas in death penalty cases. The jury gave Mr Hasan the death sentence after two hours of deliberations on Wednesday however, it could be years before he is executed because of the long appeals process in the military justice system and his execution must eventually be authorized by the President. Virginia-born Nidal Hasan said he opened fire on the soldiers to protect Taliban insurgents from troops about to deploy to Afghanistan. At the end of the hearing, Maj Hasan - who had represented himself - declined to speak, saying: "I have no closing statement". The US military has not executed a service member since 1961. There are five inmates of the US military death row at Fort Leavenworth, who are all at various stages in the appeal process.