President Barack Obama is expected to speak today at a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, for the 13 U.S. soldiers and others gunned down in a rampage allegedly committed by a U.S. Army psychiatrist.
Hospital officials said the man suspected of carrying out the massacre, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, has meanwhile regained consciousness and is able to talk. Officials, however, have declined to give details about what Hasan may be saying or what treatment he may be receiving.
Hasan, 39, was shot by police during the attack on November 5 and had been in a coma.
In another development, U.S. officials said Hasan is expected to be charged with the attack in a military court.
In the investigation of the rampage, U.S. reports said investigators were probing potential contacts between Hasan and people linked to the Al-Qaeda terror network. One focus of the probe is whether the suspect acted alone or had outside direction.
Reports have portrayed Hasan, a U.S.-born Muslim of Palestinian background, as being strongly opposed to the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is said to have been opposed to his scheduled deployment soon to Afghanistan.