Posted on 05/13/2004 6:07:11 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -
An American who was beheaded by militants had told friends he was arrested by Iraqi police in Mosul because he had an Israeli stamp in his passport. The Mosul police chief Thursday denied having arrested him.
Another friend who saw Nicholas Berg the night before he disappeared said the 26-year-old was headed to Turkey.
Berg's headless body was found Saturday in western Baghdad. Three days later, a videotape posted on an al-Qaida-related Web site showed him decapitated by hooded, armed men.
U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the person shown beheading Berg, based on an analysis of the voice on the video, a CIA official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But questions about Berg's stay in Iraq persist, including the time and place of his abduction. U.S. and Iraqi officials have offered varying accounts of their contacts with the self-employed telecommunications businessman from West Chester, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb.
U.S. officials said Wednesday that Iraqi police arrested Berg in Mosul on March 24 because they believed he may have been involved in "suspicious activities."
U.S. spokesman Dan Senor would not explain, but insisted that Berg was held by Iraqi - and not American - authorities. He said, however, that the FBI visited Berg three times before he was released April 6.
In e-mails released by his family, Berg wrote about his experiences in trying to track down and later meeting an in-law in the Mosul area. Berg also described his work in seeking to repair communications towers in Iraq.
In Mosul, police chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khair al-Barhawi insisted his department had never arrested Berg and said he had no knowledge of the case.
"The Iraqi police never arrested the slain American," al-Barhawi told reporters. "Take it from me ... that such reports are baseless."
Berg's family said the young Berg was transferred to American custody soon after his arrest. The family blames American authorities with exposing their son to worsening danger in Iraq by holding him until a flare-up of anti-American violence that set the stage for his abduction and death.
In an e-mail released by the family to The New York Times, Berg wrote to his parents after his release that federal agents had questioned him about whether he had ever built a pipe bomb or had been in Iran.
After his release, Berg traveled to Baghdad and checked into the Fanar Hotel. An acquaintance quoted Berg as saying he had been arrested by Iraqi police in Mosul because he had an Israeli entry stamp in his passport. The acquaintance spoke on condition of anonymity.
Most Arab countries bar foreigners from entering their territory if their passports contain Israeli entry stamps. Controls along Iraq's border have relaxed since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.
Seasoned travelers in the Middle East know to ask Israeli border officials not to stamp their passports if they are traveling to Arab countries.
Berg checked out of his Baghdad hotel April 10. U.S. officials said they offered him a flight to Jordan, but he refused it. His father, Michael, said his son declined the offer out of fears that the travel to the airport was too dangerous. Attacks had taken place in the areas his son would need to drive through, Michael Berg said.
American businessman Andrew Robert Duke said he and Nicholas Berg "had a few beers" on April 9, and Berg told him he "was single, hoping to find a young woman with whom he could have a child."
Duke, 50, also said Berg "spoke about going to Turkey - of going sailing in Turkey - and then home."
He said Berg did not tell him how he was going to get to the country north of Iraq. "I thought he had transportation arranged - that was my impression," he said.
Duke and the hotel staff said Berg left some of his belongings in storage there, apparently planning to return, although he didn't say when.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Berg was detained by Iraqi authorities "for his own protection" because his behavior in Mosul seemed unusual for a Westerner.
He had been seen traveling in taxis and moving about the dangerous city without any escort, the official said. He added that Berg, who was Jewish, had in his possession texts that were "anti-Semitic" in tone, the official said without elaborating.
In his e-mail quoted by the Times, Berg guessed the FBI agents in Mosul had questioned him about Iran because he was carrying some literature in Farsi and a book about Iran.
He also wrote that U.S. military police who were supervising the Iraqi police had heard some of his fellow prisoners referring to him as an Israeli and suggested he be moved to a separate cell.
David Skalish, a colleague and friend in Philadelphia, said Berg had traveled to Israel a couple times, sometimes going rock climbing there.
Michael Berg also said Iraqi police found Jewish religious items - a prayer shawl, for instance - in his son's possession when he was detained on March 24.
Al-Zarqawi is thought to be in Iraq, operating his own terrorist network. He is thought to have extensive ties across the militant Islamic movement and is considered an ally of Osama bin Laden.
As recently as March, U.S. officials said al-Zarqawi's practice was not to make taped public pronouncements or take credit for attacks. However, in the last five weeks, he has increased his public profile with at least three recordings, including Berg's beheading.
Al-Zarqawi is believed behind more than a dozen high-profile attacks in Iraq, and many other acts of violence that have killed hundreds. The United States offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his death or capture.
That's okay, Dem Stratigist Bob Beckel, on Hannity & Colmes tonight, described Nick Berg as "that kid who lost his head."
The businessman Duke says the impression he had was that Berg had a ride out of the country. Berg may have made arrangements for a ride with someone he had met. His naivete cost him his life.
He also went to school at Cornell and at some college in Pa. (possibly Penn State), then ended up in Oklahoma. I'd like to find out how he ended up there after having already been to two different colleges.
Really? Who would you believe, if being rational and using commonsense was required??
Exactly! This story just keeps getting bigger....
I wonder if we will ever find out the truth. The media certainly will not investigate.
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