Iraq

American civilian beheaded on video

The U.S. vows to hunt down the killers, who claim the slaying is in revenge for prison abuses in Iraq.

[AP photos] Comforted by his son, David, Michael Berg, left collapses in the front yard of his West Chester,Pa., home Tuesday, after learning that the killing of his son Nick has been made public on a Web site.

This video image posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site shows five men standing over civilian Nick Berg, whose body was recovered Saturday.

View related 10 News video: 56k | High-Speed

BAGHDAD - A video posted Tuesday on an al-Qaida-linked Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq and said the execution was to avenge abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

The American identified himself on the video as Nick Berg, a 26-year-old Philadelphia native. His body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday, the same day he was beheaded, a U.S. official said.

The video bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." It was unclear whether Zarqawi - an associate of Osama bin Laden believed to be behind the wave of suicide bombings in Iraq - was shown in the video or simply ordered the execution. Zarqawi also is sought in the assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan in 2002.

The Bush administration said those who beheaded Berg would be hunted down and brought to justice.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "It shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children."

Much about Berg's activities in Iraq is unknown. U.S. officials confirmed that Iraqi authorities had detained Berg and that an FBI agent had interviewed him while he was in Iraqi custody.

U.S. officials had feared the photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad would endanger the lives of American troops and civilians.

In the video, posted on the Web site of Muntada al-Ansar, an organization with ties to al-Qaida, five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks stand over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit similar to prison uniforms.

"My name is Nick Berg. My father's name is Michael. My mother's name is Suzanne," the man, seated in a chair, says. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia."

The video then cuts to Berg sitting on the floor, his hands tied behind his back, flanked by the masked men, as a statement is read in Arabic.

After the statement, one assailant takes a large knife from under his clothing while another pulls Berg onto his side. A scream sounds before the men cut Berg's head off, repeatedly shouting "Allahu akbar!" - "God is great."

They then hold the head out before the camera.

What Berg did while in Iraq may never be known.

His family last heard from him April 9, the day seven American contractors working for a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. and two military men disappeared after their supply convoy was attacked on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Four of the Halliburton workers and one of the military men have since been confirmed dead. Halliburton worker Thomas Hamill escaped his captors May 2 and returned home to Mississippi on Saturday. The two other Halliburton workers and the other soldier remain missing.

Two soldiers also vanished April 9. One was later found dead and the other, Pfc. Keith M. Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, was taken captive and remains missing.

While in Iraq, Berg was detained by Iraqi police and was interviewed by an FBI agent while in Iraqi custody, Pentagon and federal law enforcement officials acknowledged Tuesday. But no one was certain why he had been detained or what happened to him after he was released.

The Washington Post, quoting an unnamed clerk at Baghdad's Fanar Hotel, on the east bank of the Tigris River, reported that Berg checked in March 22, left for Mosul, returned to the hotel April 6 and checked out April 10.

Berg told the staff he was going home, the clerk said, and walked with his bags down Saddun Street, a major artery, because the road was closed to vehicular traffic that day.

He first went to Iraq on Dec. 21. He stayed until Feb. 1, making contact with a company that indicated there probably would be work for him later. He returned to Iraq in March, but learned there was no work for him. He had planned to go home March 30.

He didn't return, however, and FBI agents went to the Bergs' West Chester home March 31 and told them he had been jailed in Iraq.

On April 5, the Bergs sued in federal court in Philadelphia, alleging that the American military was holding their son illegally.

According to his parents, Berg called April 9, saying he had been released April 6. He said he had been detained for 13 days after being arrested at a checkpoint in the city of Mosul. He said he didn't know why he was jailed.

His parents said they never heard from him again. His family said they were informed by the State Department on Monday that he was found dead.

When told by a reporter about the Web site, Berg's father, brother and sister grasped one another and slowly dropped to the ground in their front yard, where they wept while holding each other.

"I knew he was decapitated before," Michael Berg said. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

In the video of Berg, the executioners said they had tried to trade him for prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

There was no comment on the report from U.S. military officials in Baghdad. Knight Ridder Newspapers quoted an unnamed senior State Department official as saying he was unaware of any offer to trade Berg for imprisoned Iraqis.

- Information from the Associated Press, Knight Ridder Newspapers and Washington Post was used in this report.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright