NJ Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Power Plants

[darrels joy]

NJ Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Power Plants

Former classmate says he had a heated exchange with Mobley during a tour in Iraq

By VINCE LATTANZIO

Updated 9:45 PM EST, Thu, Mar 11, 2010











NBCPhiladelphia.com




The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three nuclear power plants.

Sharif Mobley, 26, is being held in a jail in Yemen after he allegedly killed a police guard and seriously injured another during a shootout at a hospital on Monday.

The Buena, N.J. native has also been accused of taking part in several acts of terrorism, Yemini officials say. He also purportedly has ties to the same branch of al-Qaeda who are suspected of attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner on its way to Detroit on Christmas.

As details of Mobley's arrest trickle back to the U.S., more people who knew him are coming forward.

Former high school classmate Roman Castro says Mobley was always fiercely religious and tried to convert high school friends to Islam.

Castro says he ran into Mobley during an Army tour in Iraq around four years ago. The two had a short exchange, with Mobley telling him to "Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer," according to Castro.

A former neighbor said Mobley moved to Yemen two years ago to study Islam.

Mobley, who was born in the U.S., also worked as a laborer at three Salem County nuclear power plants, power company officials say.

Working for several contractors, Mobley carried supplies and did maintenance work at the plants on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek from 2002 to 2008, PSE&G spokesperson Joe Delmar said.

Mobley also worked at other plants in the area, Delmar said.

Speaking to NBC Philadelphia Wednesday, Mobley's mother denied claims her son was a terrorist. She called Sharif a "good Muslim" and said he's "absolutely not a terrorist."

However, she did confirm that when she last spoke to her son in late January he was in Yemen. The FBI also visited their home, but the mother would not say for what reason.

Mobley was captured after trying to escape the hospital. He is now in Yemini custody.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...-87416537.html

[darrels joy]

American Held in Yemen After Shootout

By ROBERT MACKEYRoman Castro/Associated Press Sharif Mobley, who is being held in Yemen as a suspected militant, at a barbecue in New Jersey in 2002, the year he graduated from high school.

Sharif Mobley, a 26-year-old from suburban New Jersey who moved to Yemen two years ago, was arrested there last week in a sweep of suspected militants, according to a spokesman for Yemen’s embassy in Washington. After his arrest, Mr. Mobley complained of being ill and was transferred to a hospital in the Yemeni capital, Sana, the spokesman added. He then tried to escape and killed a security guard before being recaptured after a shootout.

Mr. Mobley’s parents told a local television station that they “know nothing” about his fate and were trying to get more information on their son’s case. They last spoke with him in January, they said. His father, Charles Mobley, told reporters outside the family home in Buena, N.J., on Thursday, ”I can tell you this: He’s no terrorist.”

Mr. Mobley, who grew up in Buena, a town in southern New Jersey, reportedly lived in Newark, Del., before moving to Yemen about two years ago to study Arabic and Islam, The Associated Press reported. An imam in Delaware, Abdel-Hadi Shehata, said that Mr. Mobley lived near him in an apartment complex in Newark, and that he sometimes attended services at the Islamic Society of Delaware.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed to The A.P. that their Baltimore office is working on Mr. Mobley’s case.

At Yemen’s embassy in Washington, Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman, said that Mr. Mobley was one of 11 suspected Qaeda militants detained during an operation this month in Sana. He was taken to a hospital last weekend, where he stole a gun from a security guard and shot him, Mr. Albasha said.

Witnesses in Yemen told The A.P. that Mr. Mobley was eventually arrested by counterterrorism officers after a shootout.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/201...pagemode=print