Two naturalized Americans of Lebanese origin have been arrested and charged with terrorism, accused of operating on behalf of Hizbullah in the US, Panama and Thailand, AFP reported Thursday (June 8th).
Ali Kourani, 32, and Samer el Debek, 37, were arrested on June 1st, US officials said.
Both were hit with a raft of charges that include providing material support to Hizbullah, weapons offenses and receiving military-type training from group.
Debek, on Hizbullah's payroll for years, conducted surveillance in Panama, where he assessed vulnerabilities of the Panama Canal and ships passing through it, US officials said.
Kourani allegedly monitored potential targets in the US, acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon Kim said.
US officials said Kourani received weapons training from Hizbullah as a teenager in Lebanon before moving to the US legally in 2003.
They alleged that he was recruited into Hizbullah's operations unit Islamic Jihad in 2008, and the following year became a naturalised US citizen.
He communicated with his handler through coded emails, and received bouts of weapons training and drills on tactics in Lebanon, US prosecutors said.
In 2012, he went on a Hizbullah surveillance mission to Panama, officials said.
Panama's government expressed "satisfaction" over the arrests, saying "it maintains active co-operation with international intelligence bodies to prevent this type of threat".
