Russia, US to bolster ties after Boston blasts

MOSCOW: Russia and the United States agreed yesterday to step up cooperation in their fight against terror in the wake of news that two ethnic Chechens were suspected of organizing the deadly Boston Marathon bombings.
The Kremlin said Russian leader Vladimir Putin called US President Barack Obama to once again express his condolences and discuss ways the two sides can work more closely on security in the runup to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
"Both sides underscored their interest in bolstering the close cooperation of Russian and US special services in the fight against international terrorism," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Obama said victims of the Boston Marathon explosions still deserve to know the motives and the planning behind the deadly blasts. He acknowledged that the capture of a second suspect in Boston brought to a close a trying five days for his presidency and for the nation.
Obama said that despite a tough week, the nation’s character showed through.
He said the capture of one suspect and the death of another in the twin blasts at the Boston’s venerable race Monday “closed an important chapter in this tragedy.”
US police on Friday had captured an ethnic Chechen teenager suspected of staging the Boston Marathon bombings after a desperate manhunt that paralyzed the city and its suburbs.
Responding to a tip from a local resident, police found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, hiding in a boat in a suburban backyard in Watertown, wounded and weary after a gun battle overnight in which his accomplice brother was killed.
People across Boston later descended into the streets to celebrate, chanting: “USA! USA!” Some climbed onto car roofs while others danced in the streets.
A neighbor alerted police after finding Tsarnaev “covered with blood” in the boat where he had taken refuge, Boston police chief Ed Davis told reporters. Concerned that the suspect might be laden with explosives, police said they initially used a robotic arm to lift the tarp.
A small army of police surrounded the University of Massachusetts student for a final showdown that lasted nearly two hours. Attempts to negotiate with him failed as he was “not communicating,” Davis said.
“We exchanged gunfire with the suspect who was inside the boat, and ultimately, the hostage rescue team of the FBI made an entry into the boat and removed the suspect,” Davis told a press conference.
Once captured, Tsarnaev was rushed to a hospital, where he was in serious condition.
It was not immediately clear when Tsarnaev would be formally charged. US Attorney Carmen Ortiz declined to comment on possible charges he would face.
The arrest ended a dramatic four days after two bombs exploded at the marathon finish line, killing three people and wounding about 180 in the worst attack on the United States since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan were named as the main suspects. They were also at the center of a violent spree in which one policeman was killed and a second officer wounded.
Investigators at first struggled to identify the attackers, but the big breakthrough came when Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on Thursday released video and picture images of the Tsarnaev brothers as they walked in Boylston Street where the attacks took place.