MAKHACHKALA - The mother of the two brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings on Thursday launched an impassioned attack on the US authorities over the death of one of her sons, as her husband planned to travel to the United States to find out what happened.
The parents of the two suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, spoke to reporters in the Russian region of Dagestan where they were living when the Boston marathon bombings took place. Their mother Zubeidat, in a hugely emotional intervention, accused the US security services of needlessly killing her eldest son and tearfully expressed regret the family ever moved to the United States.
Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a chaotic shootout while Dzhokhar, 19, was gravely wounded during his capture by the US authorities and has now been charged.
Tamerlan was "killed, cruelly killed. I want to scream to the whole world, what did you do? He was alive!" Zubeidat, dressed in a headscarf, said in sometimes incoherent comments in the main Dagestan city Makhachkala.
"He was alive! Why did they need to kill him? Why? They got him alive," she said speaking in English and standing up as her husband Anzor remained seated. Zubeidat reaffirmed her belief that her sons were innocent of the Boston bombings. "I know one thing, that my children did not do this."
She also expressed worry over the injuries to Dzhokhar that he received during his capture. "He has a really bad wound on his neck. He is getting better but he is still weak."
She tearfully expressed regret over the family's move to the United States in 2002, waving her hands and banging the table with emotion. "Why did I ever go there? Why? I thought that America will protect us and our kids, it will be safe. But America took my kids away from me. Why would I not regret?"
Zubeidat and the father Anzor had met investigators from the US FBI in Dagestan earlier this week in a visit organised by the US embassy in cooperation with the Russian authorities. Anzor, wearing dark sunglasses and unlike his wife speaking mainly in Russian, adopted a calmer demeanour and said he planned to go to the US on Friday. "I plan to go to the United States to clear everything up.
I am not looking for revenge or to offend. Let the special services sort it out," Anzor told reporters.