American beheaded in Iraq

CAIRO, Egypt: A video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant web site appeared to show a group affiliated with al-Qaeda beheading an American contractor in Iraq, saying the death was revenge for the prisoner-abuse scandal. The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit — similar to a prisoner’s uniform — who identified himself as Nick Berg, a US contractor whose body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.

“My name is Nick Berg, my father’s name is Michael, my mother’s name is Susan,” the man said on the video. “I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in ... Philaphedelia.” After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting “Allahu Akbar!” — “God is great.” They then held the head out before the camera. 

“For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the US administration to exchange this hostage with some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused,” one of the men read from a statement. “So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way.” The video bore the title “Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.”        

US promises punishment

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas: The Bush administration said yesterday the people who beheaded American hostage Nick Berg in Iraq are enemies of freedom who will be hunted down and brought to justice. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said of Berg. “It shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children. 

“We will pursue those who are responsible and bring them to justice.” McClellan was in Arkansas with president George W Bush on a campaign visit to highlight Bush’s education policies. The president spoke at a junior high school before news broke of the killing of Berg, 26. An apparent videotape of Berg’s beheading was aired on a Web site known to have ties with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. The tape also included threats against Bush and Pakistan’s president, Gen Pervez Musharraf.

 
Family of beheaded US man devastated

WEST CHESTER, Pa: The family of Nick Berg, the 26-year-old American civilian beheaded in Iraq, said yesterday they were devastated by his death. In a statement read on the lawn of the Berg family’s home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, 15 miles (24 km) west of Philadelphia, neighbour and friend Bruce Hauser described Nick Berg as “a great kid.”

“The Berg family is devastated by this loss,” the statement said. “They want to extend their sympathy to other families who have also suffered. They are asking the army to expedite the release of Nick’s body so they can make arrangements and put this behind them.” Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq beheaded Berg and vowed more killings in revenge for the “Satanic degradation” of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of US troops, an Islamist web site said yesterday.