FBI Saw Berg Three Times During Iraq Police Detention (he was never in US custody)

Reuters via Yahoo! ^

[dead]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The FBI saw Nick Berg, the American civilian beheaded in Iraq, three times while he was being detained by Iraqi police, the U.S.-led occupation authority said Wednesday.

An Islamist Web site Tuesday carried a video clip of Berg's beheading, with a statement saying a group linked to al Qaeda carried it out in revenge for the abuse of Iraqis by U.S. troops.

Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, said Berg had not been in U.S. custody before or after his arrest by Iraqi police on March 24.

"My understanding is that they suspected that he was engaged in suspicious activity," Senor told a news conference.

"U.S. authorities were notified, the FBI visited with Mr. Berg when he was in Iraqi police detention and determined that he was not involved in any criminal or terrorist activities," Senor said. "They had contact with him on three occasions."

Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said U.S. military police had seen Berg during his detention to make sure he was being fed and treated properly.

Berg, whose body Senor said was discovered by a road near Baghdad Saturday, was in Baghdad from late December to February 1 and returned to Iraq in March.

He did not find work and planned to return home at the end of March, according to his parents.

Berg's communications to his parents stopped on March 24 and he told them later he was jailed by Iraqi officials after being picked up at a checkpoint in Mosul.

On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit alleging their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq. The next day, he was released.

Berg was one of dozens of foreigners kidnapped in early April as U.S. forces launched twin offensives on the restive city of Falluja west of Baghdad and followers of a rebel Shi'ite cleric in the capital and across southern Iraq.

[Jon Alvarez]

wonder why he was dressed like a Muslim detainee? Did they do that? What exactly was he doing in Iraq? Anyone know?

[OXENinFLA]

Get an egg-timer.

It won't be long and the left will be saying Bush should be held accountable for Berg's killing because the US gov't knew he was in Iraq and didn't give him a one way plane ticket home.

[Jeremiah Jr]

al Qaeda is Saudi Arabia...

and See Psalm 83 for the rest of the lineup.

BTW, what does Falluja mean? In english that is...

[Clara Lou]

I read (my source for this forgotten) that Berg was Jewish. That's why he was executed so heinously.

[conserv13]

I wouldn't say that, but it does seem odd that he was not released right away, after found to have been doing nothing wrong.

[MineralMan]

"I wouldn't say that, but it does seem odd that he was not released right away, after found to have been doing nothing wrong."

I had a hard time figuring that out, too. I still don't understand it. I imagine, though, that we'll find out in the next few days.

[ex-Texan]

The Internet is buzzing with stories and rumors about Berg being held by covert U.S. Intel operatives in Iraq (NOT Iraqi police). There are reports on leftist web sites saying Berg was involved in a big Haliburton scandal and had secret info that would expose an even bigger mess than abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Some people even believe he was killed by a Mossad group posing as al Qaeda. (On Rumor Mill News) Yada Yada Yada.

Feel free to flame away.

[Alberta's Child]

This story gets more bizarre by the hour. In particular, the apparent combination of things like this: "independent contractor" goes to a war zone by himself with no contracts in hand . . . detained by U.S. and/or Iraqi forces several months ago . . . parents file lawsuit in U.S. Federal court to force his release . . . tells parents he'll be on his way home soon . . . turns out he may have been on similar "work assignments" in Africa over the last few years . . . etc.

Something about this stinks to high heaven.

[Jaded]

Yep. The dates don't seem to line up either. Where was he for the month between his release and execution?

[Straight Vermonter]

His family and friends are already saying that.

[dead]

He spoke to his parents each day, for four days, after his release. He told them he was treated well by the Iraqi police and US intelligence agencies who looked into his background. He said he was trying to find a way home.

Then the phone calls abruptly stopped. Presumably the remaining time was spent in Al Qaeda captivity.

[latrans]

So, was he turned over to Zarqawi by the Police?
I was unimpressed with the deftness of the beheading.
I can remove the head of a moose more easily.
I bet I could do a real clean job on Zarqawi.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

His Dad seems to be coming close to that!

[GOP_Proud]

The DUmmies are over there with outrages theories that our side did it to make more Americans outraged and boost support for the war.

Sick.

[Alberta's Child]

It won't be long and the left will be saying Bush should be held accountable for Berg's killing because the US gov't knew he was in Iraq and didn't give him a one way plane ticket home.

That sounds like the kind of rational thought I would expect from them. First the parents file suit in Federal court to have him released from U.S. custody in Iraq, then they complain that he wasn't detained against his will and put on a plane home.

Unbelievable.

[antivenom]

Wasn't a beheading...that would be a swift and complete act...what that poor young man suffered was torture and mutilation...a slow and painful death...

[OXENinFLA]

Real close.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/133/world/U_S_spokesman_says_decapitated:.shtml

His father, Michael Berg, said he blamed the U.S. government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death. He said if his son had not been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave the country before the violence worsened.

''I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused,'' he said. ''I don't think this administration is committed to democracy.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

I read (last night) that Bergs parents had *filed a lawsuit naming Rummy as the defendant* because they were holding their son, *the same day the U.S. Forces released him*.
I look for it in a minute and give you the link.

If the U.S. Forces never had him then why did the parents file a suit against Rummy?

Why are there so many news reports out there that are totally wrong? Will they retract their stories and say "sorry"?

[Steven W.]

yes - obviously he is a jew working for the mossad under the guise of being a Halliburton contractor allied with the US troops who were assigned to torture innocent Iraqis in the prisons when he decided to tell the world of his crimes and was then caught by the CIA who dressed up like AlQaeda to execute him. yeah, sure. LIBERALS ARE GOING NUTS! THEY ARE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!