Houthis detain US citizens in Yemen

This article originally appeared on The Media Line.

At least two Americans are being held by the Houthis, the Iranian-backed Shi’ite jihadist group that today controls most of Yemen. A source close to the Houthi group, which is known as “Ansar Allah”, told The Media Line that two American citizens are being held by the National Security Organization, controlled by the Houthis.

This contradicts a report in The Washington Post quoting unnamed US officials that “several” US citizens were being held.

The source also confirmed that one detainee is named Sharif Mobley, an African-American male, who was detained in Yemen after a request from an American intelligence agency in 2010 on suspicion of membership in a jihadist group. He was then handed over to the Yemeni intelligence agency where he is currently being held.

“The other man’s name is Casey Gomez. He was in Yemen on a legal visa, which expired over 7 months ago,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said. “The former regime knew that this man was still in Yemen, then, about a month ago, he appeared more than once in Sana'a's International Airport trying to leave the country and NSO forces arrested and interrogated him.”

The Houthis displaced a government that had been an ally of the US on drone strikes against an affiliate of al-Qa’ida. Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, have launched a campaign of air strikes against the Houthis that have killed at least 1600 Yemenis over the past few months.

The same source claimed that local and American media are exaggerating the number of the detainees in order to exert pressure on the Houthis.

According to information published in March on the website Raqeb, Mobley was born in New Jersey.

“Mobley and his four older siblings were raised by parents who were members of the Nation of Islam,” the website says. “The family lived in the small town of Buena, about an hour east of Philadelphia. As his devotion to his Muslim faith grew, Mobley met (his wife) Islam in 2005 and married her three months later. Their first child, a daughter, was born soon after. The couple moved to Delaware in 2007 and began contemplating a move to the Middle East to strengthen their faith and learn Arabic. After striking up a friendship with a family from Yemen at a mosque they attended, Mobley and his wife decided to move with their newborn daughter to the country in 2008. “

Ahmad Al-Rahabi, a lawyer who claimed to have insider information into Mobley’s case, told The Media Line that US officials accused Mobley of having a connection with Anwar Al-Awlaki who was an Al-Qaeda member who used to recruited other members to join the organization.

According to an interview in the Washington Post with Mobley’s wife, Mobley did contact known American-Yemeni jihadist Anwar Al-Awlaqi who was killed in a US drone strike in 2011, but only to ask for advice regarding the fact the his wife was pregnant again and needed surgery.

Mobley’s wife was able to return to New Jersey alone, while Mobley was shot in the leg and detained by a group of men at midnight in January of 2010, according to Raqeb.

Al-Rahabi said that he received information that after Mobley was arrested he was taken to a hospital for treatment for the gunshot wound he sustained in his leg While in the hospital he was interrogated by US officials regarding his stay in Yemen and his relationship with Al-Awlaki. The officials also threatened Mobley that he might never see his wife and daughter again.

Al-Rahabi added that the Yemeni authorities accused Mobley of shooting a guard in the hospital and trying to escape. He is being accused of murder.

Since the US embassy has closed in Sana’a it has been difficult to get information on this case.

“We have no authorization to comment on this case,” Mutleq Al-Marrani, a Houthi member of the National Security Organization told The Media Line.

Both detainees were reportedly about to leave Yemen, but they were arrested at the last minute. The Media Line has not been able to confirm whether there are any more American detainees in the Yemeni government’s or the Houthi prisons.