By DANIEL HERATY
and ANDREA POTEET
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – A former Dearborn resident was placed on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list June 29.
Faouzi Mohamad Ayoub, 44, a citizen of Canada and Lebanon, allegedly bought a passport in 2000 under the alias Frank Mariano Boschi, with the intent to go to Israel and oversee a bombing on behalf of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim political party Hezbollah.
A federal indictment, dated Aug. 5, 2009 in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, was unsealed after Ayoub was added to the list, which required a vote by FBI agents, Special Agent Sandra Berchtold said.
He is charged with passport fraud, which carries a possible 25 years in prison.
The FBI’s website said he should be considered armed and dangerous. Ayoub is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, 169 pounds, with a medium build, black hair and brown eyes. He has several other aliases.
It is unclear how long Ayoub lived in Dearborn.
According to published reports, Ayoub, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, was arrested in 2002 by Israeli officials after he allegedly tried to train Palestinian militants to make bombs.
He was released in 2004 along with 21 other Lebanese prisoners in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.
Those with information on Ayoub should contact the FBI.
(Daniel Heraty can be reached at [email protected])