Brussels - United States Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano expressed her condolences to the victims of the Texas army base shooting Friday and said it was too early to rule out terrorist links. "This was a horrific act of violence, even harder to bear because it happened to soldiers on our own soil," Napolitano told reporters after a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels.
"These are men and women who have made a selfless and courageous decision to serve the United States. This is indeed a great tragedy in our country, and for our country," Napolitano said.
Asked whether terrorism could be ruled out, Napolitano said: "The investigation into the shootings has began and it would be inappropriate to speculate on the causes of this terrible crime, so let me not comment any further as the investigation is ongoing."
While she was in Brussels, reports out of the US suggested that the suspect in the killing of at least 13 people at the Fort Hood base shouted "Allah Akbar" (God is great) before opening fire.
Army Lieutenant General Robert Cone told NBC television there were "first hand accounts" to the effect that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had yelled the Muslim religious chant.
Napolitano has been touring Europe with international cooperation in the fight against global terrorism high on her agenda.
Her visit to Europe came just a week after two people were arrested and charged in Chicago over a plot to attack a Danish newspaper that published cartoons denigrating the Muslim prophet Mohammed in 2005.
Napolitano said the incident demonstrated that "there are individuals within the United States who have become radicalized and part of violent extremism."
"What that illustrates is that al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-related activities, or groups, or individuals are not confined simply to the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, they have seeds all over the world.
"And that means that the international cooperation we talked about today is so very important, because some of these information-sharing agreements (between the US and Europe) we reach have a direct implication for our ability to intercept these plots and prevent them from occurring," Napolitano said.
