Russia denies being uncooperative on Boston Marathon bombing case - FM
12 April 2014, 19:55 -- Russia has dismissed allegations that it failed to give the United States enough help in measures that might have averted the Boston Marathon bombings. 'An article in the April 9 issue of The New York Times caught our attention - it set out the main points of an 'internal report' of the US intelligence community on actions by special services before and during the terrorist act in Boston. Citing unnamed sources, it is claimed that that document, the non-classified part of which is planned to be published on April 15, accuses the Russian side of uncooperativeness,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
'It is difficult for us to understand the reason for the new dissemination of such inventions if, a while ago, we had a detailed discussion on all circumstances of this case with the American side, including through the information exchange channels of relevant services,' he said.
'Long before the Boston terrorist act, Russian specialized authorities passed over to their US counterparts information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, which was not properly taken into account for various reasons. A special briefing was held for members of Congress who visited Moscow in June last year at which they received answers to their questions,' Lukashevich said. 'We cannot rule out the possibility that, against the backdrop of the anti-Russian campaign launched in the United States due to the developments in Ukraine and Crimea, someone is trying to whitewash the American special services that overlooked the plotting of the terrorist act. It appears that this involves an attempt to blame us for this mistake. If this is the case, it is an undignified method that would further undermine confidence that is so essential for tackling our common tasks in combating international terrorism,' the spokesman said.
'We cannot rule out the possibility that, against the backdrop of the anti-Russian campaign launched in the United States due to the developments in Ukraine and Crimea, someone is trying to whitewash the American special services that overlooked the plotting of the terrorist act. It appears that this involves an attempt to blame us for this mistake. If this is the case, it is an undignified method that would further undermine confidence that is so essential for tackling our common tasks in combating international terrorism,' the spokesman added.
Russia informed the US agencies about Tsarnaev being a possible threat
US report released information on Thursday with additional facts regarding the Boston Marathon suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. According to the report, US law enforcement agencies had information about the potential threat that might come from Tsarnaev but ignored it. Russia did alert the US about the possible threat coming from Tsarnaev. Russian special services informed FBI about him back in 2011 but FBI didn't find any link between him and terrorism, thus the case was closed.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, two Chechen brothers are main suspects of conducting bomb explosions during the Boston Marathon as a result of which more than 260 people were injured and three people died.
Later Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot by the police when he tried to escape with his brother. His brother is currently in prison and is awaiting trial at the end of which he might face death penalty.
FBI has received a letter from Russia in March of 2011 where Russia has provided evidence of Tsarnaev being a member of Radical Islam. After that the US side has sent two additional letters to Russia asking for more information.
Eventually the report 'found no documentation or other information that the Russian intelligence agency responded to either letter prior to the bombings.'
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