By Thomas Grove MOSCOW (Reuters) - A group leading an Islamist insurgency against Russia said on Sunday it was not at war with the United States, distancing itself from last week's Boston Marathon bombing. Ethnic Chechen Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in a gunfight with police following a manhunt that shut down Boston on Friday, and his younger brother Dzhokhar, 19, are suspected of carrying out the attack last week.

A website used by Russia's North Caucasus rebels denied Sunday any link to the deadly Boston Marathon bombings that have been blamed on two ethnic-Chechen suspects. "The command of the Vilayat Dagestan mujahedeen... declares that the Caucasus fighters are not waging any military activities against the United States of America," the Kavkazcenter.com website said. "We are only fighting Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for monstrous crimes against Muslims," the rebel site said.

A website prominently used by Russia's North Caucasus rebels on Sunday denied any link to the Boston Marathon bombings that have been blamed on two ethnic-Chechen suspects. "The command of the Vilayat Dagestan mujaheddin... declares that the Caucasus fighters are not waging any military activities against the United States of America. We are only fighting Russia," the Kavkacenter.com website said in an official statement. zak/rmb

Azerbaijan has been making such huge progress in the past decade that every time I travel here, I have difficulty recognizing this place and I regret not following this country more closely. The last time I came here was because of President Abdullah's Gul's official visit. This time, I came to attend the Davos meeting on April 7-8. I can hear you asking, “Isn't Davos in Switzerland?” True, the actual address of the famous Davos meeting held by the World Economic Forum is in Switzerland.