Bales has been flown from a temporary military prison in Kuwait to Fort Leavenworth, according to Alarabiya.

Officials had previously said the suspect, whose identity was kept secret, saying it was military policy to openly identify suspects only after they had been charged, was a 38-year-old staff sergeant that had spent 11 years in the army.

The suspect’s lawyer, John Henry Browne, told US media that his client had been upset by a serious injury sustained by a comrade the day before the massacre, but held no animosity toward Muslims.

Earlier on Friday,   Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said he was “at the end of his rope” over the number of civilians killed by NATO forces and said US officials failed to co-operate with his own team investigating the massacre.