US President Barack Obama got repeated briefings from top officials Friday on the intense hunt for a remaining fugitive suspect in the Boston bombings, but stayed out of public view.
Early in the day Obama huddled in the White House Situation Room with top security, intelligence and foreign policy aides and then took a fresh briefing in the late afternoon in the Oval Office from anti-terror advisor Lisa Monaco.
Officials said he also called Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to express condolences for the death of a police officer in a firefight with the two suspected bombers, one of whom was killed.
“The President said that the entire country is behind the people of Boston as well as Massachusetts,” said a White House official.
Obama added that the “full force” of US government would be brought to bear on the hunt until the final suspected bomber was caught.
The president did not appear on camera or make any other statements Friday in a sign the White House did not wish to detract attention away from the massive manhunt that shut down Boston.
White House spokesman Jay Carney also postponed his daily briefing.
Obama was first brought up to speed on the hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who was killed in the operation, overnight.
Then in the Situation Room, he was briefed on developments by senior officials including Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI director Robert Mueller.
Top foreign policy aides including Secretary of State John Kerry also joined the meeting and CIA Director John Brennan took part by video conference, officials said.
Hours before the break in the manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers, who are of Chechen origin, Obama had been in Boston himself to attend an inter-faith service for the three people killed and more than 180 injured in the attack on the city’s marathon.
Obama out of sight, gets repeated Boston briefings
