A private memorial for Nicholas Berg was set for Friday at a synagogue in West Chester, Pa., to honor a 26-year-old American beheaded by al-Qaida militants in Iraq.Berg, a telecommunications businessman traveling on his own in Iraq, was kidnapped in Iraq last month and later beheaded.
Berg's father, Michael Berg, blames the Bush administration for his son's death."Nick died for the sins of the Bush administration," Michael Berg said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Special Report: Family Insists U.S. Military Detained Berg (Includes Pre-Execution Images) Article:CIA: Al-Zarqawi Decapitated BergThe Bergs say they want to know if the government had received an offer to trade Iraqi prisoners for their son. On the videotape of his death, Berg's killers say a trade offer was rejected, but U.S. officials have said they knew of no such offer.Meanwhile, the State Department says an e-mail from a consular officer in Iraq that said Berg had been in U.S. custody was based on erroneous information.Spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq had sent the incorrect information to the diplomat.A U.S. diplomatic official in Iraq told the family in early April that Berg was being detained by the U.S. military, according to e-mails provided by the family Thursday. (Read excerpts of e-mails from U.S. Consular officer to Berg family)Berg wrote 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.U.S. government officials have said Berg, who was found dead last weekend in western Baghdad, was detained by Iraqi police March 24 and was never in the custody of American forces.The Berg family wants to know why the U.S. government keeps insisting the man was under arrest by Iraqi police, not the U.S. military."Nick told his father that he was being held by the American government. The FBI came to the Bergs' home and questioned the parents about their son, so let's ask the question -- were the FBI working for the Iraqis? Do the Iraqis send the FBI to the Bergs' home to ask about Nick?" said Bruce Hauser, a family friend.Berg is believed to have been kidnapped within days of his April 6 release by either Iraqi police or coalition forces, and later beheaded by militants who videotaped the slaying.To back its claims that Berg was in U.S. custody, the family showed The Associated Press an April 1 e-mail from Beth A. Payne, the U.S. consular officer in Iraq.New:E-Mails From Consular Officer To Berg Family "I have confirmed that your son, Nick, is being detained by the U.S. military in Mosul. He is safe. He was picked up approximately one week ago. We will try to obtain additional information regarding his detention and a contact person you can communicate with directly," the e-mail said.In another e-mail four hours later, Payne wrote, "I have been able to confirm that your son is being detained by the U.S. military. I am attempting to identify a person with the U.S. military or FBI here in Iraq who you can contact directly with your questions."In a third e-mail later that day, Payne wrote she was still trying to find a local contact for the family.Berg's brother, David Berg, called on the government to come clean about its contacts with the slain American before he died.The family has blamed the government for keeping him in custody for too long while anti-American violence escalated in Iraq.
Possible 9/11 Connection Uncovered
The questions surrounding Berg's murder, and his time in Iraq, are not limited to who had him in custody.Now, a 9/11 connection has emerged in the case.Reports reveal that the FBI questioned Berg two years ago after finding his e-mail address had been used by an acquaintance of 9/11 suspect Zacarias Moussaoui. It happened in 1999 when Berg was a student at the University of Oklahoma.According to Berg's father, Michael, Nick Berg met the unnamed terrorism suspect while riding the bus to classes and had allowed the suspect to use his computer to send e-mails, giving him the password to his computer.Berg reportedly never met Moussaoui, who attended flight school in Oklahoma, and Michael Berg told the Associated Press the FBI investigated and ruled out any terror link for Berg.The CIA now said there is a "high probability" that Berg's videotaped execution was carried out by terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The tape of the brutal beheading claims it's retaliation for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers. The militants on the tape also said they had attempted to arrange to exchange Berg for Iraqi prisoners held at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.International news reports on Friday said Berg was arrested by Iraqi police and held on suspicion of being a spy, because he had a Jewish name and an Israeli stamp in his passport.The reports quote a Chilean photographer, Hugo Infante, 31, who said he talked to Berg around April 6, shortly after Berg's release from custody and return to Baghdad. Berg reportedly told Infante that: "They arrested me because I had a Jewish last name and an Israeli stamp in my passport" and that Iraqi police had handed him over to U.S. military forces "because they thought he was a spy."The reports also said Berg's March 24 arrest prevented him from returning to the United States on a New York-bound flight he had scheduled for March 30. The reports of the planned flight have not been confirmed.Coalition spokesman Dan Senor insisted Wednesday that Berg was never in U.S. custody, and the FBI released a statement this week saying coalition authorities warned Berg that it was dangerous for him to be in Iraq without protection, but that the Philadelphia man had refused offers to help get him out of Iraq. Berg's family disputes this.According to a report in the Australian Web site The Age, FBI agents visited Berg three times during his incarceration in Iraq, and Berg was also visited by U.S. military police, who "checked that he was being treated properly."Berg was released on April 6, one day after his family filed a lawsuit claiming he was being illegally held by American forces in Iraq.His family last heard from him on April 9.
Copyright 2005 by NBC6.net The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Special Report: Family Insists U.S. Military Detained Berg (Includes Pre-Execution Images)
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