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'Toronto 18' member Ali Mohamed Dirie reportedly died in Syria Ali Mohamed Dirie died in Syria after 2011 prison release, informant tells CBC

TORONTO -- SNIPPET: "The so-called Toronto 18 eventually split into two groups after the leaders had a falling out. One thing the groups still had in common was a misdirected paranoia. They worried they were being watched by the authorities, but little did they know two of their trusted confidants were police agents. At one meeting one of the plotters instructed a man who was actually an RCMP agent to take the battery out of his cellphone so their conversation couldn't be intercepted. Another plotter gave an agent a test to see if he was a spy. He passed." SNIPPET:...

SNIPPET: "Saad Gaya, a 21-year old, admitted Monday that he was part of an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to build fertilizer-based truck bombs and explode them in downtown Toronto." SNIPPET: "With Mr. Gaya, Mr. Khalid, and Mr. Dirie having pleaded guilty in recent weeks, only seven adult accused are headed to trial at this point. More pleas are possible."

DENVER -- A Canadian national found dead inside an upscale Denver hotel with a pound of highly toxic sodium cyanide had killed himself, the deputy coroner said Wednesday. However, a spokesman for Dirie's family said he finds the idea that it was suicide "ridiculous." Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, was found dead inside the Burnsley hotel on Aug. 11. In his hotel room, firefighters found nearly a pound of sodium cyanide -- the crystal form of cyanide "This office completed an autopsy. The test results have been returned to our office and the decedent was positive for ingesting cyanide. The manner...

FBI terrorism experts are investigating whether the death of a Somali-born Canadian citizen — whose body was found Monday in a Denver hotel room with about a pound of extremely toxic sodium cyanide — is connected to the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The Denver coroner said the man died of cyanide poisoning. The cause of death was announced Thursday, but authorities haven't determined whether 29-year-old Saleman Abdirahman Dirie committed suicide. An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has been sent to Denver, although Special Agent Kathy Wright said there's no information to conclude that Dirie had terrorist ties, the Rocky Mountain...

The former Somali refugee, who was buried Thursday, was described as humble, reclusive and "psychotic." A Minnesota-based legal advocacy center for Somalis is assembling a troubling, curious background of a man found dead in a Denver luxury hotel Monday near a pound of deadly cyanide. "He was psychotic; he was on medication," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, which has talked to dozens of people who knew Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, a 29-year-old Canadian citizen and former Somali refugee. Dirie's journey to the U.S. and his stay in an expensive hotel does not fit the profile...

FBI terrorism experts are investigating whether the death of a Somali-born Canadian citizen — whose body was found Monday in a Denver hotel room with about a pound of extremely toxic sodium cyanide — is connected to the upcoming Democratic National Convention. An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has been sent to Denver, although Special Agent Kathy Wright said there's no information to conclude that Saleman Abdirahman Dirie had terrorist ties, the Rocky Mountain News reported. While local law enforcement officials tried to downplay the incident, stressing that there was no sign of foul play in the death of Dirie,...

DENVER (AP/CBS4) An advocacy group for Somali immigrants has cautioned against linking terrorism to a man found dead in a Denver hotel with a pound of highly toxic sodium cyanide in his room. U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Thursday terrorism couldn't be ruled out, but that it was not indicated in the investigation. Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, of Ottawa was found dead Monday, and police say a powder found in his room was cyanide. The cause of death hasn't been established. Police say they don't suspect foul play and the FBI says there's no apparent connection to terrorism. The...

DENVER -- Police confirmed Wednesday that they found about a pound of sodium cyanide in a Denver hotel room where the body of a Canadian man was discovered earlier this week. Police spokesman John White identified the white powder as sodium cyanide, the crystal form of cyanide. Fire officials say they found a bottle containing about a pound of the white powder, or between a pint and a quart by volume. An expert told the Denver Post that the amount of cyanide is enough to kill hundreds of people. The medical examiner's office said it is awaiting test results to...

Ottawa man's death still a mystery: The mystery deepens in the case of an Ottawa man found dead in an upscale Denver hotel room — a pound of highly toxic sodium cyanide in a jar beside him. More than a week ago, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, told his Somalian family out of the blue that he was leaving to vacation in Denver. On Monday, he was found in a fourth-floor room at the ritzy Burnsley Hotel about four blocks from the Colorado state Capitol. He had been dead for several days. Yesterday in Ottawa, a quiet west end family was...

Authorities are testing a pound of a granular substance found inside an upscale Denver hotel room to determine if it is cyanide. A Canadian national was found dead on Monday inside room 408 of the Burnsley Hotel. The Denver Coroner's Office has not completed the autopsy of 29-year-old Saleman Abdirahman Dirie. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting Denver police with the investigation. "You have a suspicious substance that was found in a hotel room in conjunction with person being a foreign national and we have a lot of questions and that is why we are assisting," said Denver...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

LGF reader “Shiplord Kirel” points out a blog post from July with a comment by a Somali with the same name as the man found dead in Denver with a large amount of possible cyanide: Somali Christian Blog Abandoned. « Zot Media Inc. Please don’t talk sh*t , that man deserves what happened to him , simply because having the bible in one hand , and a bread in the other hand , is not a correct thing ,! Kill Them , Kill them , Kill them , that is my massage,!Comment by Abdirahman Dirie — July 11, 2008 @...

It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide. Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada. A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of the Burnsley Hotel at...

DENVER (CBS4) ― It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide. Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada. A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of The...

Bust nets suspected terrorists across GTA Toronto red Star Jun. 2, 2006. 11:56 PM MICHELLE SHEPHARD AND STAN JOSEY STAFF REPORTERS Police from across the GTA, led by the RCMP's anti-terrorism task force, swooped down on as many as 12 locations Friday night to arrest members of what is being described as a homegrown terrorist cell. Police remained tight-lipped about the massive operation, but have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Saturday. RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR This officer is one of numerous heavily-armed police standing guard in front of the Durham Regional Police station at Kingston and Brock roads...