Somali Muslim found dead in Denver hotel room with a pound of cyanide -- FBI says it's not terrorism

from Jihad Watch

The cyanide could have killed hundreds. But the FBI hastens to say that there is no apparent connection to terrorism. At this stage, with the time they've had to investigate, what can that mean? Not much more than that they didn't find an Al-Qaeda membership card in Dirie's wallet, or a poster of Osama bin Laden in his luggage. But the possibility that he could be a freelance jihadist, motivated by what he reads in the Qur'an -- as was Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar -- doesn't enter into their calculations. That possibility doesn't even seem to be on their radar screen.

"Police: Pound Of Cyanide Found In Denver Hotel: Canadian Man Had Been Dead For Days Inside Burnsley," from the Denver Post, August 13 (thanks to Michelle Malkin):

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 determine whether cyanide killed 29-year-old Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, of Ottawa, Canada.

His body was found Monday inside Room 408 at The Burnsley Hotel, which is about four blocks from the state Capitol. White said Dirie had been dead for several days. Friends told The Ottawa Sun that he was dead six days before he was discovered.

Foul play is not suspected and his death appears to be an isolated incident, White said.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting in the investigation but FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright said the incident has no apparent connection to terrorism.

"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," Wright told the Post....