The Post also reported Twitter suspended a previous account opened by Ali. It has been widely reported that the social media company has been suspending accounts associated with ISIS.
Ali’s responses to other anonymously asked ask.fm questions were still on his Twitter profile. He recently revealed that he is married and said that he had to leave Canada because it is the “land of disbelief.” He also tweeted that he has since handed over his passport to ISIS.
The National Post also reported that Ali told his parents he was flying to Turkey for two weeks but when he arrived in Istanbul he crossed the border to Syria.
Ryerson president Sheldon Levy says he hasn’t been approached by police or any other security agencies about Ali or any current or former students connected to terrorist activities.
“I’ve never heard from the police of security on any of these issues, so all of that is new to me,” he said. “The police have not asked the university for any information that I know of.”
Mubin Shaikh, who was an undercover counterterrorist agent for Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said he wasn’t aware of Ali until he saw reports of him in the press. But he said there have been instances of young men “immersing themselves in online propaganda. It’s very likely that was the same thing that got this guy to have headed over.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. Greg Cox, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said that he couldn’t confirm or deny any potential information about Ali.