Posted on 05/27/2004 9:26:51 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
May 27, 2004 | Filmmaker Michael Moore filmed an interview with American Nicholas Berg in the course of producing his documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11" before Berg left for Iraq, where he was taken hostage and killed, Moore confirmed to Salon in a statement Thursday. The 20 minutes of footage does not appear in the final version of "Fahrenheit 911," according to the statement.
Word of the footage reached Salon through a source unaffiliated with Moore or his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," which is reported to feature stark images of U.S. civilians and soldiers grappling with conditions in war-torn Iraq, as well as examining the relationship between President George W. Bush and the bin Laden family. It received the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's highest honor, on Saturday.
In a statement widely circulated by Moore's people after an initial request for comment by Salon, Moore said, "We have an interview with Nick Berg. It was approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media. It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family." Moore's camp declined to comment further on any aspect of the interview. Because the footage is not in the film, a spokeswoman for Miramax Films, the production company behind "Fahrenheit 9/11," said the company had no comment.
It was not clear from Moore's statement whether footage from the interview with Berg had ever been included in early cuts of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Reports about a film industry controversy surrounding distribution of the film first hit the news on May 5, a week before Berg's death. The film officially screened for the public and the press for the first time during the Cannes festival on May 17.
The news that Moore spoke to Berg while he was still in the United States only adds to the mystery surrounding the young man's presence in Iraq and tragic death. The interview was shot before the 26-year-old Berg left for Iraq late last year as a private contractor in the hopes of helping to rebuild the ravaged country. Though it was unclear what Berg spoke about in his interview with Moore, or how the two men met, unrelated reports following his death indicate that he headed for the Middle East with plans to work to improve the country's technological infrastructure and communication abilities. He ran his own company, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, in a suburb of Philadelphia.
Berg did not find employment in Iraq, and when he attempted to return to the United States he was detained by Iraqi police and questioned by American forces. He was released after his family complained. But shortly after, he is believed to have been kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. Video of his beheading was released on an Islamist Web site on May 11. Salon was unable to reach the Berg family for comment before publication.
Moore's film chronicles the United States' military, political and business involvement in the Middle East in the years before and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. His previous politically charged films, including "Roger & Me" and "Bowling for Columbine," have created controversy and won him praise (including an Oscar, for "Columbine"). "Fahrenheit 9/11" has already sparked a media storm; in early May, Miramax's parent company, Disney, announced that it would not allow Miramax to distribute the film, which is highly critical of Bush and his administration.
Miramax has yet to make a deal with a distributor, though the film's warm reception at Cannes and the publicity surrounding the film have made it a hot property that is generating a lot of interest in Hollywood. "Bowling for Columbine" grossed $21 million, making it the highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary of all time.
A source close to "Fahrenheit 9/11" said that a new distributor will be announced shortly, and that the film is expected to be released in theaters during the first week of July, as originally planned.
His inmate number is VERY close Boayoud....did they go to prison at the same time? Same prison?
LOL. Of course their numbers are close... they were convicted together... in the same case. I don't know about which prison. I believe in Federal Prison, you could end up in multiple locations. While an inmate, the location shows up in the database... when released, they delete that info.
I did find in the Pennsylvania State records Amina (Aziz wife) with Pierre as officers of this corporation (which was one of the companies cited in the indictment). I believe the spelling of the name is incorrect though:
Basic Entity Information
Entity Type PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS CORPORATION
Entity Name HI-TECH ELECTRONICS, INC.
Entity No. 1539276
Filing Date 12/08/1989 Letter of Consent No
Address 135B SOUTH 52ND ST
PHILA Pennsylvania USA 19139
County Philadelphia Jurisdiction -
Purpose BROAD
Limited Authority No
Corporate Officers
Updated Date 12/08/1989
President PIERRE BOYAYAD
Treasurer AMINA BOYAYAD
This is just a crazy series of "coincidences" that seems a bit too bizarre.
Berg had a 9/11 connection , and now a Michael Moore connection AND he ends up losing his head?
Was he a double agent?
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
Newcastle Herald (Australia)
April 11, 2003 Friday
Dream Of Freedom
By Michael Condon
WHILE Mustafa Al-Mudafer felt a sense of jubilation as he watched the television last night, he was not about to wave the American flag. The Maitland-based Iraqi had mixed feelings as he saw Saddam Hussein's regime crumble before his eyes.
"I'm very jubilant. I feel somehow relieved," he said yesterday. "After 35 years of suppression, the Iraqi people can start to breathe again. But I'm very cynical about this issue."
Mr Al-Mudafer said he hated the dictator but he did not want to see Iraq occupied by the US. "I don't think the US will put in place a democracy because a democracy won't serve them [the US]," he said.
Mr Al-Mudafer was just six years old when Saddam, with the Ba'ath party behind him, took power. Growing up in Basra, he remembers the time when, on the last day of the Muslim holy month Ramadan, Ba'ath party agents gave his aunt the death certificate of his uncle, and then asked her to pay for the bullet. But the kebab shop owner does not want Saddam Hussein dead he wants him humiliated.
"I'd love to see him not killed, but in a courtroom, with all his ministers and other henchmen," he said. "We need true justice. He needs to be humiliated."
But Saddam and his followers are not the only ones he believes should be on trial.
"All those dictators such as Hitler and Stalin built their strength within their own country but Saddam was armed by outside powers, outside countries with interests."
Mr Al-Mudafer said countries such as the US, Russia, France, England and Yugoslavia should have to answer to providing the dictator with arms, including chemical weapons, which allowed him to kill as many as 2million Iraqis. The years of oppression have made Mr Al-Mudafer cynical, but he feels a sense of hope as the statues of the Iraqi dictator are brought down across his homeland.
"I am hopeful... We'd love to see a free Iraq," Mr Al-Mudafer said.
The English-educated chemical engineer has lived in Australia for nearly 11 years and calls the country home, but now he, along with his wife and three children, may again set foot inside his country of origin.
"If I see justice in Iraq I may think about going back."
From your post:
Mr Al-Mudafer was just six years old when Saddam, with the Ba'ath party behind him, took power. Growing up in Basra, he remembers the time when, on the last day of the Muslim holy month Ramadan, Ba'ath party agents gave his aunt the death certificate of his uncle, and then asked her to pay for the bullet.From FR Patriot Rally Action Report, March 2003
She went into her rant about Bush being evil again. I stopped her and asked her how come she was supporting a mass murderer (Saddam). I told her about Aziz Al-Taee's cousin who was cut into little pieces, delivered to his house in a bag, and the family was presented with a bill for the bullets. If the family complained, someone else would be shot.
Hmmmm... So now we have two different people telling essentially the same story. But like you said, it may just have been standard operating procedure for Saddam.
What is your source of articles?
You seem to find quite a few that I can't (through the library, etc.).
Ok, I can admit that I had that flame coming, and I apologise.
Also, I didn't know WHO to direct my message to. All of a
sudden the thread had seemed to have spun off and was
filling up with what seemed to be a list of every variation
of middle east tribally named persons who had any
rap-sheet.
I couldn't see where it was going either, or how anyone was
using that stuff to try to show a CONNECTION between M.Moore
and Nick Berg's beheading, or M.Berg's motives, etc.
So maybe I'm on track now and I'll try to summarize.
The whole thing is apparently
based on the little we know about Nick's aunt,
his uncle-by-marriage, and that man's two brothers names.
Nicks email named the three brothers as:
1 Mudafer, (the uncle-by-marriage)
2 Moyser, and
3 Moffak Mustaffa Yasin
http://www.nickberg.org/Nick-Berg-Iraq.html
I would assume they all had the same mother and father since they weren't
called half-brothers, so I would expand those to:
1 Mudafer Mustaffa Yasin, (the uncle-by-marriage)
2 Moffak Mustaffa Yasin, and
3 Moyser Mustaffa Yasin
I would assume most people, when referring to 3 brothers in an email
would not refer on any one of them by just a LAST name, so I felt somewhat
confident that Mudafer, Moyser, and Moffak are all FIRST names.
The BBC reported brother number 3 as Mustafa al-Muzfar. The al-Muzfar
appears to be a regional/tribal name indicating the Muzfar tribe or
region within Mosul, where they grew up.
And as is often done, sometimes a person drops a family name like Yasin when
talking to the press, especially if Yasin were connected with Saddam
or Baathists.
So that means all 3 brothers could also be listed with the
4th (tribal name) al-Muzfar
1 Mudafer Mustafa Yasin al-Muzfar, (the uncle-by-marriage)
2 Moffak Mustafa Yasin al-Muzfar, and
3 Moyser Mustafa Yasin al-Muzfar.
Now heres' where I got lost yesterday... One of you made the
assumption that when Nick said Mudafer (3 syllables), he was refering
to just the TRIBAL name of brother #1 (the uncle-by-marriage).
OK, maybe, but I hadn't considered that. Maybe you guys made that clear,
but I had been away too long from the thread and missed that finer point
during my catch-up skimming.
So now you were ALSO looking for tidbits of info on anyone with a
two or THREE syllable last name sounding like al-Muzfar OR al-Mudafer
(and thats how the MUZZAFAR listings of DOCTORS in the USA came to get listed).
When I saw mention of an "Iraqi who grew up in Basra", I ASSUMED no-way,
that can't be the family since I thought the al-Muzfar was a Mosul tribal
name. I guess I assumed that because Moffak and Moyser seemed 'homies' with
businesses in Mosul, and probably lived there their whole lives. Also assumed
that Mudafer grew up there too, but later moved to 'near Baghdad'.
But I could be wrong. There might be a town called Muzfar Iraq. If not
then Muzfar is probably a region or tribe within some larger city.
Maybe its Basra, maybe its Mosul, or who knows, maybe its Baghdad.
SO ANYWAY, I understand now, I think, why you guys/gals were coming up
with so many lists of odd muslim names. Have at it, and have fun. Let us know
once in a while WHY you think those are important please, and what
you theorize they may have to do with the subject of the thread, and we'll
all be hunky-dorey.
You're right. different people analyze info different ways. I just got lost
and my head was spinning from that last 20 or so posts.
Sorry you didn't like the goose. He was there just to accent my post.
FLE
By the way, why were names like ROBERT LEWIS SR PLATT
in your lists? and how he is connected to Nick? or Moore?
To try to make a Bush supporter look stupid?
"I don't know about everyone else, but all these names are running together in my head by now. That may be because I haven't bothered to keep good notes on "who's who," plus I'm popping in and out of this thing with no real consistency. I keep saying my time would be better spent creating a reference document with links to summarize this 1800-reply thread, but I haven't had time yet."
Amen, I'm in the same boat. Can someone do a summary? Then it could be posted on the main site as an article and start a new thread!! LOL But seriously, an up to date summary would be greatly appreciated.
Them's some bad @$$ folks alright. Nick was quite naive it seems, and did not seem to do background checks. Among other foibles...
Very interesting. Certainly it cannot yet be proven and I will slander no one, however, the potential that Williams Mullen is either a willing or duped Mafiya law firm cannot be discounted. Curiouser and curiouser....
I'm in the process of doing a summary, but it's not a "summary" in the truest sense of the word. I'm compiling a list of internal links (info contained in this thread ) so we can refer back to information we've already gathered.
For instance, if you wanted to know what we've discovered on Aziz on this thread, you'll be able to travel back to the specific replies with Aziz's information (facts, not opinions).
I'll have to leave it to someone else to do an actual textual "summary." As for me, I'm just too dang confused. :-)
Hey... I've gotta get out of here (going out of town)... so this is going to be quick (I hope). Thanks for the apology... no problem (I just couldn't resist comin' back at ya, lol)
I think Nita and I might were communicating on some odd wavelenghth... but there are still so many pieces that appear to be connected but haven't been nailed down. I appreciate you continuing to explore and question... and sooner or later, together we'll find the links. All of this information helps.
Re: names... I have seen arabs use so many variations of tribal, fathers, etc. names that I'm not ruling anything out. (Nor am I ruling out that Nick's emails might have been less than 100% descriptive or accurate as they were provided to the media by family and close friends). As you posted re: Yassin/Yasin, since these names are not derived from latin, or with a common alphabet, they take on unlimited derivations. When I kept saying the word mudafer and muzfer... they started sounding more and more the same (as does muzaffer). Muzaffer is a very OLD tribal name... I don't think it is from podunk within Mosul, but I don't know yet. So... I was exploring. When I came across a Muzaffer that was an extreme leftist activist (Chandra Muzaffer) in Malaysia, it got my attention due to Nicks travels... as well as the fact that he wrote articles about Nick. Then, when I came across Mahmoud (sp) Muzaffer and his Moscow Milosevic Saddam connections, it also got my attention, given Aziz ties to the Russian mob (see below). Nothing was tied out, mind you, they were just worth keeping an eye out for.
Next subject... Aziz, Platt, et. al. Nick was definitely connected to Aziz. He entered into a partnership with the man in Iraq. Follow the links I posted yesterday to 5 key research items/articles if you haven't read them already. (less than 100 posts back). Aziz lived in Philadelphia. I suspect that Nick or his family may very well have been familiar with Aziz in Philadelphia... way before he went to Iraq. Given that Aziz-Nick have been tied out (in Iraq at least), Aziz's associates become of interest. Those lists I posted, along with their inmate records, are all associates of Russian individuals who allegedly are associated with the Russian mob running a very substantial cocaine ring in the Tri-State area (I don't want to get sued here.... notice all those "alleged's"?). LOL Tri-state = PA, NY, NJ. (btw... brother David Berg is in NJ... still haven't had a chance to track him down).
Aziz, through his American Iraqi Council, is also associated with Ahmed Maki Kuba/Kubba... who I believe is related to Sam Kubba and Laith Kubba... who are close relations and business affiliates with Ahmed Chalabi (see current news). I'm deep into these relationships, but, alas, it will have to wait until Sunday, LOL.
So.... what does all this have to do with Michael Moore? Well... I would surmise (I hate to surmise.. I like to PROVE, lol) that Nick may have been a tool for some of the same people who use Michael Moore. But the only way to get there is to work through it piece by piece. We could spin many theories, but that is still all they would be. In looking at all of these various relationships, I'm hoping to find links between the Russian mafia (with business interests in Iraq), the leftists trying to do a power play for how Iraq ultimately is governed, Prometheus Radio as another tool of those using the Moore's/Bergs of the world, etc.
I hope that helps. Carry on the good work! :-)
And remember Semyon Mogilevich had/has quite an operation in Philadelphia.
Did you ever find anything on this? If you'll freepmail me will anything you remember about it, I'll take a stab at it. ANY and ALL clues help with finding appropriate keywords.
Fascinating.... this is an amazing track of investigation. We have only just begun. I sense there is much, much more to be found.
If anyone runs across a source for this, please speak up. Nick's mother's name is Suzanne carol.
Hurry back. And have a good trip. And thanks!
I'm an IDIOT!
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