March 13, 2010
New Jersey's Sharif Mobley, Suspected alQaeda Member, Attended Yemen's Dammaj Islamic Institute
As the facts begin to come out about Sharif Mobley, not only have we learned that US authorities were aware of him for some time, but that he also worked in several nuclear plants before leaving for Yemen two years ago. Additionally, Mobley attended a known extremist school in Yemen.
AOL News: Mobley was known as "the Somali" because of his African heritage, he said. He also said Mobley studied at Dar al-Hadith Dammaj institute in Saada, a well-known Salafist school in Yemen's northern province, which was decried as a "known terrorist training center" during tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees."Reports say that between 3,000 and 5,000 foreign students live and study there," said Abdul-Salam al-Korary, a local journalist who has covered Yemen for several decades. "It is a very radical school."
The Dammaj Institute is the flagship school of the Dar al Hadeth network of hard core Salafi institutes in Yemen. The school is isolated, and students are immersed in the rigorous teaching program 24/7. There are a half dozen other Dar al Hadeth schools and numerous outposts dotted all over Yemen.
The Dammaj school gives students light weapons training, but they insist it is for self defense purposes necessitated by the Sa'ada War. The school has railed against the Shiite Houthi rebels and students have gotten into several firefights. In earlier outbreaks of the war, the Dammaj school reported that it was well guarded by Yemeni troops. According to typical Salafi philosophy, the Dammaj institute eschews political participation.
Beyond providing protection for the school, the Yemeni government has also hired some of the institute’s graduates. Al-Thawri weekly reported in August 2006 that the Endowments Ministry licensed over 100 graduates of Salafi centers as preachers in the space of two weeks. The paper said the centers are “linked to extremism and have relations with influential people”. The Socialists’ newspaper noted that graduates from both the Dammaj center in Sa’ada and Sheik Mohammed Al-Imam’s center in Maber, were granted licenses to work.
Previous:
American alQaeda terrorist kills guard in hospital shootout
Jersy Jihaddi Update: A Nuclear Plant Worker!!
War In Afghanistan/Iraq Probable Cause Of Recent Upswing Of Americans Joining the Jihad
