SAN'A: A 26-year old American from New Jersey came to Yemen in 2008 to study religion and language, his US lawyer said — but ended up detained as an Al-Qaeda suspect nearly 18 months later and was held shackled to a police hospital bed for weeks before he allegedly tried to shoot his way out. Sharif Mobley was charged last month with killing a Yemeni soldier and wounding another during the escape attempt in March, when he allegedly convinced a guard to unshackle him, grabbed the man's gun and opened fire. Yemeni officials first mentioned Mobley publicly after the escape attempt, saying he had been rounded up with other Al-Qaeda suspects, and tried to escape while receiving treatment. But Cori Crider, his US lawyer currently in Yemen for his trial, said Mobley was held incommunicado for more than two months after his arrest in late January. Crider said Mobley was interrogated by US and Yemeni agents about his alleged links to Al-Qaeda, and beaten and blindfolded during the detention. Mobley's arrest came only weeks after the failed attack by Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutalb, who allegedly used a San'a language school as cover to enter the country and meet with Al-Qaeda militants for training before his botched attempt to blow up an American passenger jet on Christmas Day. Since that failed attack, the world's attention has turned to Yemen as a possible destination and easy entry point for foreign radicals trying to link up with Al-Qaeda. The country hosts a number of popular Islamic religious and Arabic-language schools that attract students from around the world. Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the country claimed responsibility for the failed mail bombs intercepted last month bound to the US from Yemen, reflecting how increasingly emboldened the Yemeni terror branch has become. Yemen has arrested a number of Al-Qaeda suspects, including Americans who were later released. Evidence that those arrested actually contacted Al-Qaeda is sketchy, and some were likely caught up in the intensified Yemeni search. Yemeni authorities have dropped their accusations of Mobley's alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, but the American still faces the death penalty if convicted of murder and attempted murder of his Yemeni hospital guards. Details of Mobley's detention and arrest came Wednesday, when he appeared in a criminal court in San'a for his third hearing. Mobley's attorney, Crider, attended the proceedings and said she had met with Mobley for a total of 10 hours since their first meeting in May. After his attempted escape, American officials have said that Mobley, who grew up in Buena, New Jersey, traveled to Yemen with the goal of joining a terror group and that the US government was aware of his potential extremist ties long before his arrest. While living in the United States, Mobley passed a criminal background check and worked as a laborer at several nuclear power plants, but there was no indication that his work had any connection to his alleged involvement with terror groups. Crider, the legal director at the human rights group Reprieve, told The Associated Press that Mobley wanted to study religion and Arabic in Yemen and lived in San'a for nearly 18 months with his wife and daughter. He made one extended trip back home during that time, she said. In January, two months after Mobley's wife gave birth to a baby boy in Yemen, the family wanted to return to the US, the lawyer said. Mobley visited the US Consulate in San'a to obtain a passport for his newborn and exit visas for the family, but was turned away at least five times because he looked suspicious with his long beard, Crider said. "Officials at the consulate refused to process his papers, interrogating him about his contacts and activities in Yemen," she said. On his way home in late January, a white van pulled up and a group of undercover agents attempted to detain him, Crider recounted. Mobley thought he was being kidnapped, flinched and was shot in the leg, she said. He was then taken to the police hospital where he was kept chained to the bed and blindfolded except at mealtimes, she added. During the hospital detention, US agents interrogated Mobley three times about his alleged connection to Al-Qaeda and asked him if he knew where militants were hiding, the lawyer said. About three weeks later, as Mobley was being transferred to a prison, he developed bleeding in the genital area and was eventually taken to a second state hospital, where he stayed until the March escape attempt. During Wednesday's proceedings, the judge adjourned the trial till Nov. 21 because a suitable translator was not available. A lawyer representing the interests of the killed Yemeni soldier had rejected both the translator brought by Mobley's defense team and one provided by the court, Crider said. US officials did not comment on Mobley's hearing and Yemeni officials could not be reached for comment.
