Prosecutor: New Jersey man sought US targets for terror attack

Software developer was also a highly trained terrorist looking at American landmarks for attack, jurors told

The UN headquarters in Manhattan, New York. AFP

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday that a Lebanese-American software developer was a highly trained terrorist checking out US landmarks to attack from 2000 to 2005.

Alexei Saab of Morristown, New Jersey, worked for Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organisation, ready to attack Americans at popular locations if Iran was attacked by the US, assistant attorney Samuel Adelsberg said in opening statements.

Alexei Saab Photo: US Department of the Treasury

By day, Mr Saab was a software engineer working for technology companies, fitting in well enough to became a US citizen, the prosecutor said.

By night, he was “a terrorist and spy” looking for targets in New York, Boston and Washington, and abroad in France, Turkey and the Czech Republic, Mr Adelsberg said.

Mr Saab was arrested in July 2019 after being questioned in 11 sessions over several weeks by FBI agents.

His lawyer, Marlon Kirton, said all the evidence in the case was from his client and could not be considered reliable.

And Mr Kirton said Hezbollah had never attacked Americans in the US.

In court documents, investigators said Mr Saab told agents he took photographs of buildings and locations including Quincy Market and the Prudential Centre in Boston, and the US Capitol Building, US Congress and the White House in Washington.

A video of Fenway Park was recovered from one of his electronic devices.

Mr Adelsberg said the targets researched by Mr Saab included the UN headquatrers, Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Terminal, all three New York airports, the Brooklyn, Triborough and George Washington bridges and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels connecting New Jersey to Manhattan.

“On paper, he lived a normal life when in reality he was a sleeper agent for Hezbollah,” he said.

Mr Adelsberg said Mr Saab also operated abroad after joining Hezbollah in 1996.

The prosecutor said he tried to kill a man he later understood to be a suspected Israeli spy by pointing a weapon at the person from close range, but the gun jammed.

Mr Saab is also facing a marriage fraud charge for allegedly wedding a co-conspirator in 2012 under false pretences. Mr Saab's lawyer did not contest that charge.

He has pleaded not guilty to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, conspiracy, receiving military-type training from a foreign terrorist organisation, unlawful procurement of citizenship to facilitate international terrorism and citizenship application fraud.

The most serious charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, although the charges collectively carry penalties of more than 100 years in jail.

The Associated Press contributed to this report