CentristNet

American Jihadist Sharif Mobley Has Ties to Al-Queda Terrorist Leader and Yemeni Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki

US authorities are now beginning to admit that Sharif Mobley, the American citizen from Buena, NJ who moved to Yemen in 2008 to pursue jihad, had strong ties to Al-Queda in Yemen, specifically Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Islamic cleric who communicated with and inspired Ft. Hood terrorist killer and US Army Maj. Nadal Malik Hassan:

A New Jersey nuclear plant laborer arrested in Yemen with 10 other suspected al Qaeda members was in contact with the same radical Yemeni-American cleric tied to Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The New Jersey man, Sharif Mobley, was detained by Yemeni security forces earlier this month and taken to a hospital for medical treatment. He allegedly tried to escape from the hospital over the past weekend by grabbing a security guard’s gun and engaging in a gunfight that killed one of the guards.

As speculated by CentristNet a few days ago, it appears that the US government had knowledge of Sharif Mobley’s activities for “some time” before the public disclosure of his arrest by Yemeni authorities a few days ago:

U.S. on Mobley: ‘Reviewing His Past Activities’

U.S. law enforcement officials said they have been aware of Mobley for some time, and the FBI’s Baltimore field office currently is investigating him.

Did America Catch Another Lucky Break, like on Christmas Day, With the Yemeni Arrest of former US Nuclear plant worker and present al-Queda operative Sharif Mobley?

So far, the establishment media appears to be doing everything it can to downplay or otherwise dilute the importance of the Sharif Mobley story, as it very well could be that Yemeni authorities’ arrest of Mobley a few weeks ago (or months ago?) may have been yet another lucky break, similar to the Christmas Day al-Queda plot, for America in the War on Terror, disrupting a possible al-Queda plot against US nuclear facilities. The American media needs to do its job, and press the Obama Administration to explain exactly what its counterterrorism units were doing to track Mobley and ensure he could not return to the United States as a part of any possible al-Queda plot regarding nuclear facilities. For starters, was Mobley on a no-fly list, or was he in bureaucratic limbo and not on that list, like attempted Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.  ABC managed to obtain this quote from Yemeni authorities, but so far no on-the-record statements of any kind from the US government:

Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington, told ABC News that details of Mobley’s case “will be clearer in a couple of days.”

Asked about Mobley’s apparent connections with the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, Albasha said he was not surprised because radicals and extremists in Yemen seek Awlaki out.

“He is a fixture in jihad 101,” Albasha said of Awlaki.

The now-admitted Mobley link to Al-Awlaki, who is “a fixture in jihad 101”, is a giant red flag and should spur some intensive investigation by the US counterterrorism authorities and focus by the establishment media as to who knew what and when and further questioning of the US counterterrorism authorities as to what precautions are being taken now to ensure any Al-Queda plot on any of the six US nuclear facilities in which Mobley worked from 2002-2008 is quickly crushed by US and Yemeni authorities. Of course, the interrogation of Mobley could be a critical source of intelligence on any such plot or other activities planned by Al-Awlaki, and we can only hope that the Obama Administration’s HIG unit, or High Value Interrogations Group, has been activated and is handling the Mobley interrogation. As for now, the American establishment media is in dereliction of its duty to investigate and report on this issue and most others surrounding the Mobley case.

While the establishment media was quick to label American domestic killers Andrew Stack and John Bedell “right wing extremists”, despite their ties to left wing causes (Bedell was a registered Democrat, Stack’s suicide note praised Communism), no such labeling or discussion of any kind has occurred regarding Mobley, who was a Democratic activist in New Jersey who was actually paid by former Democratic Governor Jon Corzine’s (D-NY) campaign to turn out the Democratic vote in 2005. Instead, amazingly, the establishment media has managed to “blame Bush” for Mobley’s jihadist activities, claiming that Mobley’s terrorist moves are the result of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

WASHINGTON — The arrest in Yemen of a New Jersey man accused of joining Al Qaeda is the latest in an alarming string of cases involving radicalized American Muslims, a trend some experts link to the duration of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About a half hour ago the AP released details on how Mobley tricked his Yemeni guard into unshackling Mobley for prayers, allowing Mobley to use his apparent high level of terrorist training to quickly murder that Yemeni guard and seriously wound another before being taken back into Yemeni custody:

New details about the episode obtained by The Associated Press indicate Mobley had a level of training and cunning characteristic of the al-Qaida terror network.

Two senior Yemeni officials involved in Mobley’s case said he was being treated for complications from a metal rod implanted in his leg some time in the past. The prison doctor had asked to transfer him to the hospital where he stayed for a week.

The officials agreed to discuss details of Mobley’s attempted escape on condition of anonymity because the investigation has not finished.

At the hospital, Mobley befriended his guards and asked them to teach him Arabic. He performed prayers, read the Quran with them.

On the day of the incident, the officials said, Mobley asked his guard to unshackle him from his hospital bed at prayer time. The guard did, but went into a washroom ahead of Mobley to perform ritual ablutions required before the five daily prayers in Islam, leaving his gun lying unattended.

Mobley snatched the gun and shot the guard twice — first in the head and the second in the chest — as he walked out of the washroom.

When a second guard outside heard the shots, he rushed in. Mobley shot him in the kidney and abdomen, leaving him in serious condition.

Mobley was then chased around the hospital until he surrendered.

One of the senior officials said Mobley’s targeting indicates he is highly trained in the use of firearms.

With US authorities now confirming that Mobley was a “highly trained” Al-Queda operative, America needs to know the details of our government’s activities to monitor, track and disrupt any plots Mobley, Al-Awlaki were planning in Yemen and further needs to know if the Obama Administration’s much heralded August 2009 HIG detainee interrogation program (which replaced Bush’s program) is now in operation regarding Mobley, as it should be. It is important to recall that the HIG was not in operation in the aftermath of the Christmas Day terrorist incident, despite Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair’s claim in January 2010 that it was operational and should have been used in that instance.

As the health care debate nears its crescendo in Washington DC over the next week, it appears the establishment media would rather this Mobley story not be properly covered, and certainly the Obama Administration wants no part of a potential replay of the detailed digging done by the media in the aftermath of the prior lucky break America received when Al-Queda terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed in his mission to kill hundreds of Americans over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Technorati Tags: Abc News, Al Queda, American Citizen, Army Maj, Buena Nj, Christmas Day, Establishment Media, Fort Hood, Ft Hood, Gunfight, Jersey Man, Jihadist, Laborer, Law Enforcement Officials, Lucky Break, Nidal, Nuclear Facilities, Nuclear Plant, Nuclear Plant Worker, Public Disclosure, Terrorist Leader, Yemeni Authorities, Yemeni Security Forces