Press gathers outside Mikhail Allakhverdov's West Warwick residence. Photo by Steve Klamkin, WPRO News.
WPRO Newsroom
The uncle of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two brothers suspected to be the Boston Marathon bombers, has told the media that he believes his newphews were brainwashed by an Islamic radical called "Misha."
A New York Review of Books blog reported this weekend that they tracked "Misha" down in, of all places, Rhode Island.
Here's what they wrote about the alleged US-based brainwasher, whose actual name is Mikhail Allakhverdov:
A thirty-nine-year-old man of Armenian-Ukrainian descent, Allakhverdov is of medium height and has a thin, reddish-blond beard. When I arrived he was wearing a green and white short-sleeve football jersey and pajama pants. Along with his parents, his American girlfriend was there, and we sat together in a tiny living room that abuts the family kitchen.
Allakhverdov said he had known Tamerlan in Boston, where he lived until about three years ago, and has not had any contact with him since. He declined to describe the nature of his acquaintance with Tamerlan or the Tsarnaev family, but said he had never met the family members who are now accusing him of radicalizing Tamerlan. He also confirmed he had been interviewed by the FBI and that he has cooperated with the investigation:
"I’ve been cooperating entirely with the FBI. I gave them my computer and my phone and everything I wanted to show I haven’t done anything. And they said they are about to return them to me. And the agents who talked told me they are about to close my case."
UPDATE: When WPRO visited Allakhverdov's residence in West Warwick, no one answered to a knock on the door. Neighbors said he was not there, and was not coming back. An attorney visited the apartment, though he did not say whether Mikhail was present or not. He did say the family has been cooperative with authorities.
