A senior US military commander recommended that Major Nidal Hasan face the death penalty for killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base in 2009, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said the recommendation for a general court-martial by Fort Hood brigade commander Colonel Morgan Lamb will go to Lieutenant General Robert Cone, the base commander.

Cone will decide whether to convene a court-martial at the base or pass the case to another general elsewhere.

A lawyer for Hasan said he did not believe his client would receive a fair trial at the base, the report said.

Hasan is being investigated for links to Islamic extremism, including his contacts with a radical cleric who blessed the killing spree.

He faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in connection with the November 5, 2009 attack at the Texas military facility.

Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed and another 42 people were wounded.