Investigation Continues Into Sharif Mobley's Background

While some people, including his parents, interviewed in response to his arrest and capture in Yemen expressed surprise and shock, there were apparent signs that he had radicalized.

Sharif Mobley had strong Muslim views as early as high school. But his old friend Roman Castro knew he had radicalized when he saw him about four years ago.

Castro, an Army veteran who did a tour in Iraq, said Mobley had only these words for him in a chance meeting: "Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer!"

Now, Mobley is in custody in Yemen as a suspected member of the same branch of al-Qaida that's linked to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound jet, and stands accused of killing a guard in an attempt to break out of a hospital, officials said Thursday.

Mobley, a former laborer at several nuclear power plants in the U.S., appears to be the latest example of the phenomenon of Americans joining terror movements overseas, which U.S. intelligence officials have warned of.

His case surfaces days after charges of terrorist connections were brought against Colleen LaRose, an American-born woman known as "Jihad Jane" who lived for years in Pennsylvania.

Mobley, a 26-year-old natural-born U.S. citizen, was identified by Yemeni officials as a Somali-American. A former neighbor said he moved to Yemen about two years ago, supposedly to learn Arabic and study Islam.

He was among 11 al-Qaida suspects detained this month in a security sweep in Yemen's capital of San'a this month. He was taken to the hospital over the weekend after he complained of feeling ill. He snatched a gun from a security guard and fatally shot one guard and wounded another before being captured, said Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington.

Mobley was apparently picked up in a Yemeni security sweep earlier in March with other al Qaeda suspects.

Yemen is again a nexus of al Qaeda activity and the Yemeni government is struggling to deal with the problem. Americans that head overseas for jihad are a significant threat precisely because they hold American passports and are less likely to be scrutinized by security that are often looking at threats from those holding foreign passports from countries known to have active terror groups operating there.

It also turns out that Mobley had worked at several nuclear power plants in the US as a contract worker, including several in New Jersey though he passed a security check in 2008 and had no problems reported by supervisors. I would expect that US intel and law enforcement officials are going to want to know what Mobley said to al Qaeda about those experiences. Considering al Qaeda's intentions to engage in mass casualty attacks, attempting attacks against a nuclear power plant would be a major threat. Expect a reevaluation of security procedures at not only those plants where Mobley worked, but across the nation.

New Jersey Man Allegedly Involved In Al Qaeda Caught In Yemen

A New Jersey man is in Yemeni custody at a Yemeni hospital where he is reported to have attempted an escape and killed one of two guards watching him before he was recaptured:

FBI spokesman Rich Wolf in Baltimore confirmed Thursday that the agency is looking into the case of 26-year-old Sharif Mobley of Buena but wouldn't comment further.

WMGM-TV in Atlantic City quoted "federal sources'' as saying Mobley is the man accused of shooting two guards over the weekend in a Yemeni hospital where he was being held prisoner. One of the guards died, and the suspect was caught after a chase.

As his father, Charles Mobley, and his wife pulled out of their driveway on their way to see a lawyer Friday, he said: "I can tell you this: He's no terrorist.''

Security and hospital officials in Yemen told The Associated Press over the weekend that an al-Qaida prisoner receiving treatment in the Republican Hospital in San'a attacked the guards while trying to escape.

Hospital officials said the patient snatched a gun from one of his guards, shot at them and fled. Security forces chased the prisoner and apprehended him. Their smoke grenades set a small fire in the hospital.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

The West has expressed concern about the growing al-Qaida presence in Yemen.

He was apparently apprehended last week in Yemen for his involvement in several al Qaeda related terror attacks and there was some confusion over his identity and background as some reports indicated that he was a German citizen.

The FBI wont confirm that Mobley is connected with al Qaeda at this point, but only that they're interested in him (which is to say that the investigations continue into his background and connections stateside).

His father and former classmates can't believe that this is the same guy that the media reports are suggesting.