Bible a 'copy' of Quran, Boston bombing suspect told neighbor

BOSTON, Massachusetts - Agence France-Presse

This combination of undated file photos shows 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File

The deceased Boston bombing suspect recently described the Bible as a copy of the Quran during an argument about religion, a former neighbor has said.

Al Ammon, whose apartment is in the same building in the Boston suburb of Watertown where Tamerlan Tsarnaev once lived, told CBS television's "60 Minutes" that the dispute between the two took place about three months ago.

"I remember the first thing I said to him was that it's always good to have an open mind towards other religions. And then he went into the Bible and the Quran," Ammon said in an excerpt of an interview that was set to air later April 21.

"He was explaining how the Bible is actually a copy of the Quran and how it's used for the American government as an excuse to invade other countries." Christianity predates Islam by 600 years.

Tsarnaev and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are the main suspects in April 15's double bombing of the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and wounded about 180.

While Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured alive and taken to a Boston hospital where authorities say he is in serious condition.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev began posting militant videos on social media sites in recent years, and made a six-month trip to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, in 2012. Both Russian regions host separatist rebel groups.

Boston suspect not yet questioned: Official

The surviving Boston bombing suspect has not yet been interrogated as he recovers in hospital from wounds sustained in a shootout, police said Sunday.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is in "critical but stable condition," Boston Police Department Commissioner Ed Davis told reporters.

He was taken into custody bloodied and seriously wounded on April 19 after an hours-long manhunt and an earlier shootout that killed his older brother.

"The suspect is not yet able to be interrogated by police," Davis said.

Officials have invoked a "public safety" legal exception that will allow them to question Tsarnaev without reading him his so-called Miranda rights to remain silent and to consult a lawyer.

Yet "we don't know if we'll ever be able to question the individual," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino earlier told ABC television's "This Week" program.

Reports said charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could come as early as Monday.

Authorities have yet to disclose the exact nature of the suspect's injuries as he receives treatment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where some of the 180 people wounded in the blasts are also being treated.

Three people died in the attacks, the worst to take place in the United States since the suicide airline bombings on Sept. 11, 2001.