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Father Of Friend Of Accused Boston Bomber Accuses Investigators


The father of a friend of the accused Boston Marathon bomber says investigators are doing everything they can to delay his son's trial.

Kazakh businessman Amir Ismagulov told the Astana television channel on April 16 that the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan is hesitant to issue a U.S. visa for him "because we have inconvenient questions for them."

Ismagulov's son, Azamat Tazhayakov, and another Kazakh student, Dias Kadyrbaev, were friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. They face charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

Officials say the two removed a laptop and a backpack containing empty firework shells from Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260 on April 15, 2013.

Another friend of Tsarnaev's, U.S. citizen Robel Phillipos, was charged with lying to authorities.

All three deny the charges.

With reporting by Reuters
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