That is what he looked like in the body-building picture. However, if he let his hair & beard grow while he was out of the U.S. (like the prison picture) he would look like a Middle-Eastern person. His hair looks very dark & very curly. If he had on the right clothes & kept his mouth shut...
Do we really know when the body building photo was taken? In his emails he enjoys being mistaken for a Turk. I'd *assumed* he'd grown his hair and beard. However, if he couldn't speak the language why would anyone mistake him for anything but an American?