US man on arms accessories charge talks of jail stay

A man charged with possession of weapons accessories in Abu Dhabi has spoken to CNN about his prison experience in the UAE.

Nicholas Moody, 23, said he will accept the judge's decision regarding his conviction but he hoped to be home in time to spend Christmas with his family.

Mr Moody, who served for some time with the California National Guard in Iraq, was in the country as an inactive guardsman and working with a security company.

He was arrested on September 29 on his way back to the US from Iraq. He planned to stop in Abu Dhabi for 18 hours but was found in possession of a pistol grip, a buttstock, a plastic front grip, a single-point sling adaptor, a buckle from a single point sling, a cleaning kit and an armourer's wrench.

He said he had the items because he had recently resigned from his position and they were his personal property.

"They are not weapons themselves, and cannot be assembled into a weapon," he said.

CNN contacted Mr Moody by telephone yesterday and he said he did not know the items were illegal.

However, he was willing to accept his fate.

"The rules are the rules, so whatever the judge rules ... I will accept," he said.

"I still remain hopeful," he added. "I'm hoping there's a still a chance that this will be resolved in time to make it home to spend Christmas with my family."

* The National