Saturday, August 16, 2008

Denver: Cyanide man - had family in town and "Make that a double."

Did he mix up a big old glass of cyanide and drink it before bedtime? That's the way it's being 'reported' but it's not passing Dinah's bitter almond sniff test.

An Ottawa man found dead of cyanide poisoning in a Denver hotel room on Monday was in contact with a female family member in the Colorado city during the days before his death, according to the director of a U.S.-based Somali activist group who is now assisting the man's family. (Ed. note: It is not known if he was traveling to Denver to see the relative.)

Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Center in St. Paul, Minn., said Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, spoke with the relative before travelling to the city about four or five days prior to his death.

Dirie was buried in a Denver cemetery Friday amid news reports he committed suicide.

Citing unnamed federal officials, a report said it is believed Dirie mixed poisonous sodium cyanide with water and drank it. (Ed. note: Is this tidbit coming from Omar Jamal, I wonder? I say yes. Spin. Spin. Spin. No one in Law Enforcement or at the Coroner's will confirm it.)


Traces of cyanide were reportedly found in a glass next to his bed. Cyanide is found naturally in fruit and food such as apples and almonds, as well as in cigarette smoke.

Meanwhile, Omar Jamal is still all over the news, lamenting the "tragic loss of life".

Never mind the pound of cyanide this "Whatever-you-do-don't-call-him-a-terrorist" was lugging around.

"This is a tragic loss of life. His life was cut short." He said the family is upset because some reports had linked Dirie with possible terrorism. Dirie's family denies he had terrorist connections.

"We are dearly concerned with the use of terrorism. This is a tragic loss of life. His life was cut short," said Jamal, adding Dirie took a bus to Denver.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and has chemical weapons like a duck. It's a duck!