World press on Tsarnayevs' connnection with Russian Islamist groups (May 1, 2013)

The New York Times published an article devoted to the alleged connection between the Boston bombing and the Islamist movement in the North Caucasus.

"F.B.I. agents are working closely with Russian security officials to reconstruct Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s activities and connections in Dagestan during his six-month visit last year, tracking meetings he may have had with specific militants, his visits to a radical mosque and any indoctrination or training he may have received," the authors of the article, Scott Shane and David Herszenhorn, write.

According to the authors, the law-enforcement agencies believe it is likely that the Tsarnaev brothers were self-radicalized and got their bomb-making instructions strictly from the Internet. However the investigators are also exploring the possibility that other people in Russia or the United States were critical influences, if not accomplices, and officials say it may be weeks before the full picture of their plot is clear, the article reads.

"On Saturday, the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Mr. Tsarnaev had sought to join the Muslim insurgency in Dagestan and had been in contact with several rebels who were killed by Russian authorities in late spring of 2012 while he was staying in Makhachkala," The New York Times writes.

The authors note that, according to the most prominent experts, the Dagestani Islamist movement views the United States as an enemy, but it would not be the militants' main target.

The Caucasus Emirate has denied any role in the marathon bombing, the authors of the article underline.