A Morristown man groomed for more than 20 years by a terrorist organization was charged Thursday with scouting possible targets for attack in New York City, authorities said.

Alexei Saab, 42, was arrested in July but Thursday was charged in a nine-count indictment for his support of the terror group Hezbollah, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Founded in the 1980s, Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and was started with support from Iran after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Its mission includes establishing a fundamentalist Islamic state in Lebanon.

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Authorities said Saab joined the terror group in 1996 and legally came to the United States in 2000. In 2008, he became a naturalized citizen.

Some of the locations Saab scouted for Hezbollah include the United Nations headquarters, the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Empire State Building, and local airports, tunnels, and bridges, the Department of Justice stated. His reports focused on weak points of the structures.

"Even though Saab was a naturalized American citizen, his true allegiance was to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for decades of terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds, including U.S. citizens and military personnel," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in a statement. "Thankfully, Saab is now in federal custody, and faces significant prison time for his alleged crimes.”

20 years in Hezbollah

His involvement with Hezbollah started with scouting. He watched Israeli and Southern Lebanese soldiers before his training intensified in 1999, authorities said.

By 1999 he started practicing with weapons including an AK-47, an M16 rifle, a pistol and grenades. He continued his work with explosives in the following years, authorities said.

Saab lied on his application for citizenship when he failed to mention his tie to the terrorist organization, authorities said. After he came to the United States he maintained contact with the Islamic Jihad Organization.

His alleged terroristic acts were not limited to the United States. At some point during his Hezbollah affiliation he tried to kill someone abroad he suspected of being an Israeli spy, firing a gun at him twice though the weapon malfunctioned, according to the Department of Justice.

As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, no court hearing had been scheduled, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office where the indictment was filed.

Saab also went by the aliases Ali Hassan Saab, Alex Saab, and Rachid. A LinkedIn profile for Alex Saab that includes an engineering degree from Lebanese University lists him as director of information technology at Covanta in Morristown. It also lists him as an adjunct lecturer at Baruch College New York.

Messages left for Covanta and Baruch were not immediately returned.

Check back for more on this developing story

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