“The root of evil should be looked for in the United States,” Ramzan Kadyrov said in comments posted online after the police shot dead Tamerlan Tsarnaev and hunted for his brother Dzhokhar, his suspected accomplice.

“They (the brothers) grew up and studied in the United States and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there,” Kadyrov said. “Any attempt to make a connection between Chechnya and the Tsarnaevs is in vain.”

Kadyrov, a tough pro-Kremlin leader whose security services have been accused of human rights abuses such as kidnappings and torture, questioned why the U.S. police had not been able to arrest Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

“Apparently the special services needed a result by whatever means to appease society,” he said. DM

Photo: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov answers journalists’ questions during a news conference prior to a friendly soccer match between team Chechnya and team Brazil, including 1994 and 2002 World Cup champions, in Grozny, March 7, 2011. REUTERS/Kazbek Basayev