Former friend says US man held in Yemen after al-Qaida sweep, shooting is longtime radical
By APThursday, March 11, 2010
Friend: US man held in Yemen is longtime radical
BUENA, N.J. — A former classmate of the U.S. man accused of belonging to al-Qaida and shooting up a Yemeni hospital tells The Associated Press he exhibited radical religious views in high school.
Roman Castro of Landisville, N.J., says 26-year-old Sharif Mobley tried to convert him and other friends to Islam. They attended Buena (BYOO’-nah) Regional High School in New Jersey and graduated in 2002.
Castro, a Roman Catholic who served in Iraq, says he attended a Muslim convention in Philadelphia with Mobley. But he says Mobley became increasingly confrontational about his beliefs and referred to him in 2006 as a “Muslim killer.”
Castro says Mobley began leading pilgrimages to Mecca with other Muslims.
Authorities say he was rounded up in an al-Qaida sweep and shot two guards in a Yemeni hospital during an escape attempt. His parents say he is innocent.
