[9][10] Dale first travelled to Yemen to join Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in 2008, and returned to Norway several times until December 2011.
[7] Dale became wanted by the intelligence services of several countries in 2012, suspected of having planned a terrorist attack against the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
[2][15] He was also charged under Norway's anti-terror laws by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), after having been under investigation for several years.
[7] It was reported later the same month that Dale was the reason for increased security measures being introduced on direct flights to the United States.
[6][16][17] One of the perpetrators of the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting, Saïd Kouachi, is considered likely to have met Dale as he trained with AQAP in Yemen in 2011.