Nick Berg
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nicholas Berg (c.1978 - April or May 2004), an American businessman
seeking telecommunications work in Iraq during the U.S.-led occupation
of Iraq, was captured and beheaded by Islamist militants possibly
connected to Al-Qaida in May 2004. His killing was said to have been
carried out to avenge abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at
Abu Ghraib prison. The act was condemned by many Muslim leaders as
contrary to Islamic law and harmful to their cause.
Berg, aged 26 at the time of his death, was a native of West Chester,
Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he owned his own
company, Prometheus Methods Tower Service. He inspected and rebuilt
communication antennas, and had previously visited Kenya, Ghana, and
Uganda on similar projects.
Berg graduated from West Chester Henderson High School in 1996 and
attended four universities: Cornell, Drexel, the University of
Pennsylvania, and the University of Oklahoma, although he never
completed his college degree. He once traveled to Ghana to help a
village, by among other things teaching villagers how to make bricks.
He returned in an emaciated state because he gave away most of his
food and clothes.
Travels and Detention
Berg, unlike most of his family, was a supporter of the 2003 invasion
of Iraq and of Bush administration policy. He traveled to Iraq in
hopes of helping to repair its damaged infrastructure. He first
arrived in Iraq on December 21, 2003, and made arrangements to secure
contract work for his company. He also went to the northern city of
Mosul, visiting an Iraqi man whose brother had been married to Berg's
late aunt. Leaving on February 1, he returned to Iraq on March 14,
2004, only to find that the work he was promised was unavailable.
Throughout this period, he maintained frequent contact with his family
in the United States by telephone and e-mail.
Berg had intended to return to the United States on March 30, 2004,
but he was detained in Mosul on March 24 by Iraqi police at a
checkpoint. His family claims he was turned over to U.S. officials and
held for 13 days without access to legal counsel. FBI agents visited
his parents to confirm his identity on March 31, but he was not
immediately released. After his parents filed suit in federal court in
Philadelphia on April 5, claiming that he was being held illegally, he
was released from custody. He said that he had not been mistreated
during his confinement. The U.S. maintains that at no time was Berg in
coalition custody, but rather that he was held by Iraqi forces. The
Mosul police deny they ever arrested Berg.[1][2] According to the
Associated Press, Berg was released from custody on April 6 and
advised by U.S. officials to take a flight out of Iraq, with their
assistance. Berg is said to have refused this offer and traveled to
Baghdad, where he stayed at the Al Fanar Hotel. His family last heard
from him on April 9. Berg had his last contact with U.S. officials on
April 10 and did not return again to his hotel after that date. [3]
Disappearance
Berg's family became concerned after not hearing from him for several
days. Although a U.S. State Department investigator looked into Berg's
disappearance, official government inquiries produced no leads. Berg's
family, frustrated with what they say was a lack of action by the U.S.
government, also hired a private investigator and contacted both their
Congressional delegation and the Red Cross in search of information.
Death
Berg's body was found decapitated on May 8, 2004 on a Baghdad overpass
by a U.S. military patrol. Berg's family was informed of his death on
May 10. Military sources stated publicly at that time that Berg's body
showed "signs of trauma", but did not disclose that he had been
decapitated.
On May 11, 2004, the website of the militant Islamist group Muntada
al-Ansar [4] broadcast a video described as "Sheihk Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi slaughters an American with his own hands," which shows
Berg being decapitated. Both al-Zarqawi and Muntada al-Ansar are
associated with the Al-Qaida movement. The video is about five minutes
and thirty-two seconds long.
Berg is seen in the video wearing an orange jumpsuit. He identified
himself: "My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my
mother's name is Susan. I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah.
I live in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia."
Surrounded by five men wearing ski masks and head scarves, after
reading his statement, Berg was decapitated by a number of blows with
a knife. On the video, a scream can be heard as the men around him
shout "Allahu Akbar" (a common Arabic expression meaning "God is
greatest!"). The men in the video also stated that Berg's killing was
in direct retaliation for the abuse of prisoners by U.S. troops at Abu
Ghraib prison.
On May 13, news outlets quoted a CIA source, speaking on the condition
of anonymity, that a voice analysis of the tape has led the agency to
conclude that it is the masked man who reads the statement and carries
out the killing is "with high probability" al-Zarqawi.
During the video, the man reading the statement threatens further
deaths: "We tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in
Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You
will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ...
slaughtered in this way." The video further threatens U.S. President
George W. Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
The video bears some similarities to the videotape showing the murder
and decapitation of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in
Pakistan in 2002. Like Pearl, Berg was Jewish, although it is
uncertain whether his captors were aware of that.
Warning: Very graphic photo
Image of veiled person holding severed head
Video details
>From 00:00:08 to 00:00:22, Berg introduces himself. Then a
pronouncement is read by a masked man standing between four other
masked men. At 00:04:30 in the video, one of the men attacks Berg with
a knife; the men surround him; very quickly, screams can be heard as
Berg is held by the men and beheaded. At 00:05:20, the head is
presented to the camera.
WARNING: This video contains graphic violence which may be offensive
and/or disturbing to some viewers.
a.. The unedited video, including the beheading of Nick Berg
a.. http://www.consumptionjunction.com/downloads/cj_34947.wmv (8.2
MB WMV format)
Possible video inconsistencies
The video contains some apparent inconsistencies which suggest that it
may have been been edited extensively by parties unknown. Technical
problems in the film may conceal significant facts. The sound is out
of sequence with the image, indicating that it may have been recorded
separately. The time-stamp display indicates that several edits have
been made. A significant discontinuity (over 11 hours) in the video's
time-stamp from 2:44:12 to 13:45:47 occurs just after the killing
begins. While the video is of poor quality, the sequences showing the
beheading after the time jump appear to show very little arterial
bleeding associated with the removal of the head, indicating that this
act may very likely have been performed post-mortem.
Reaction
In the Muslim world, the killing of Berg was strongly condemned.
Scholars at Al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a declaration of
condemnation, as did numerous Muslim groups in the West including
CAIR. Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist group
Hamas denounced the murder; Hezbollah issued a statement calling it a
"horrible act that does an immense wrong to Islam and Muslims by a
group which falsely pretends to follow the precepts of the religion of
pardon".
Iraqi conservative and fundamentalist religious leaders also denounced
the killing. Muthanna al-Dhari, of the Board of Muslim Clergy, said
the act "does disservice to our religion and our cause. Even if he was
a military personnel he should be treated as a prisoner who, according
to Shari'ah, must not be killed." Iyaad Samarrai of the Islamic Party
commented "This is absolutely wrong. Islam does prohibit the killing
or the maltreatment of prisoners." [5]
Others see Berg's slaying as a reminder of why the United States is
waging a War on Terror. [6] White House Press Secretary Scott
McClellan commented, regarding the incident: "It shows the true nature
of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of
innocent men, women and children. We will pursue those who are
responsible and bring them to justice."
Berg's family blamed the U.S. government and policies that led to his
arrest and detainment in April, for creating the circumstances that
led to Nick's death. Michael Berg stated that if his son hadn't been
detained for so long, he might have been able to leave the country
before the violence worsened. [2] His father reportedly stated: "I
think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this
thing has caused. I don't think this administration is committed to
democracy." The FBI claims that Berg specifically refused government
assistance in leaving Iraq. On May 14, Michael Berg attacked the Bush
administration's foreign policy, blaming the American actions in Iraq
for his son's death.
Links to Zacarias Moussaoui
On May 13, it was revealed that Nick Berg had been investigated during
the U. S. government's investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui. Berg's
email address had been used by Moussaoui prior to the September 11,
2001 attacks. According to Berg's father, Nick Berg had a chance
encounter with Moussaoui on a bus in Norman, Oklahoma, and that
Moussaoui had asked Berg to borrow his laptop computer to send an
email.
External links
a.. Video on al-Qaida linked Web site shows beheading - CNN news
story (no video)
b.. Berg's encounter with 'terrorist' revealed - CNN news story.
c.. Berg Had Been Advised to Leave Iraq - Associated Press news
story.
d.. Al-Zarqawi Murdered Berg, CIA Concludes. FOX News story. This
article has a link to an edited version of video that does not include
the beheading.
e.. Bloggers doubt Berg execution video - Al Jazeera article citing
skeptics of video's authenticity.
xponent
Beyond The News Maru
rob
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