Saudi Arabia Warned US About Tamerlan Tsarnaev? 'No Record' of Alert, Says White House
Saudi Arabia warned the U.S. about the accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev a year before the deadly bombing, according to reports.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security received a written warning concerning the elder Tsarnaev and his possible desire to commit acts of terror, a Fox News report stated.
The Saudi official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to comment on foreign relation matters, said the warning was sent after several red flags were raised by Russian intelligence gathered in 2011 as well as other intelligence collected independently in Yemen.
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Saudi security officials were aware of Tsarnaev and denied him a visa to visit the holy city of Mecca in 2011. U.S. officials have yet to confirm that Tsarnaev was barred from entering the country.
The report could shed light on the intelligence communication breakdown between foreign governments as well as between domestic agencies.
President Obama held a press conference Tuesday in which he discussed the ongoing investigation where he vowed to exhaust all leads.
"We want to leave no stone unturned," Obama said during the news conference. "Based on what I've seen so far, the FBI performed its duties. Department of Homeland Security did what it was supposed to be doing."
The White House also had no knowledge that a Saudi official sent a written warning.
"We and other relevant U.S. government agencies have no record of such a letter being received," Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the President's National Security Council, told The Washington Times.
A Department of Homeland Security official also denied that the agency received any such warning from Saudi intelligence about Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
"DHS has no knowledge of any communication from the Saudi government regarding information on the suspects in the Boston Marathon Bombing prior to the attack," the report added.
