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| NJ Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Power Plants |
| 2010-03-12 |
| The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local 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. Federal authorities including the FBI, State department and others confirm they are gathering information on Mobley, but would not ellaborate further. Mobley was captured after trying to escape the hospital. He is now in Yemini custody. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Sharif Mobley worked at 5 nuke sites My apologies. Clearly the AP journalist and his editor couldn't count, as the number of sites listed in the next sentence is actually six. I should have noticed this. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-03-12 22:08 |
| #5 Behold! Affirmative action and diversity hiring. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-12 19:52 |
| #4 Update from AP at 2 pm ET: Sharif Mobley worked at 5 nuke sites -- the Salem and Hope Creek plants in New Jersey; the Peach Bottom, Limerick and Three Mile Island facilities in Pennsylvania; and Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. Authorities are investigating whether he might have had any access to sensitive information that would have been useful to terrorists. Officials at PSEG Nuclear, which runs the complex in New Jersey, say he carried supplies and worked on routine maintenance mostly during periodic refueling outages, when hundreds of contracted employees descend upon the plants. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-03-12 19:13 |
| #3 Wunderbar. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-03-12 11:39 |
| #2 Abdel-Hadi Shehata, imam of the Islamic Society of Delaware, said Mobley used to live one floor below him in an aging apartment complex in Newark and occasionally visited the society's Newark mosque to pray. Shehata said Mobley, who had a wife and young daughter, moved to Yemen about two years ago. "I think to learn Arabic or something like that ... and to learn more about the religion Islam," he said. Shehata said Mobley never discussed politics or his religious views with him, but sometimes would ask his advice about how to pray and how to cleanse himself. Marisa Porges, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said many Arabic language scholars travel to Yemen to study the language because the dialect there is so useful. She said there is a risk that even those who travel there to study can become radicalized. "It's often the case that their being there makes an individual more vulnerable to radicalization," she said. Umar Hassan-El, assistant imam at the Islamic Society of Delaware's mosque in Wilmington, Del., said he roomed with Mobley during a 2004 pilgrimage to Mecca. 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. I think travel had nothing to do with being radicalized. This will get buried in politically-correct b*llsh*t tho. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2010-03-12 10:19 |
| #1 So much for the "German". America seems to have a more serious muslim problem. Hospitalized terror suspect who killed Yemeni policeman' German of Somali origin' One policeman was killed and another was injured when the suspect, identified as Sherif Mobily, |
| Posted by: ed 2010-03-12 07:46 |