Beheaded American’s family tells of torment

THE family of an American contractor murdered in Iraq have spoken of their grief after a video apparently showing his killing was released on the internet.

Nick Berg, 26, from the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester, had gone to Iraq to find work rebuilding antennas, his mother, Suzanne Berg, said yesterday.

His family said they knew their son had been decapitated, but did not know the details of the killing.

“I knew he was decapitated before. That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn’t want it to become public,” his father, Michael, said.

The family said they were informed by the US State Department on Monday that his body had been found in Baghdad. He had been missing since April 9.

The US military said only that an American civilian had been found dead in Baghdad.

State Department spokeswoman Susan Pittman said she could not release the name of the dead American, but said she was not aware of more than one civilian found dead in recent days.

Ms Berg said she had been told her son’s death was violent but did not want to discuss details.

She added she was told her son’s body would be transported to Kuwait and then to America.

She claimed the family had been trying for weeks to learn where their son was but that federal officials had not been helpful.

“I went through this with them for weeks. I ended up doing most of the investigating myself,” she said.

April 9, the day Berg went missing, was also the day that seven American contractors working for a subsidiary of Halliburton and two military men vanished after their supply convoy was attacked on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Four of the Halliburton workers and one of the soldiers have since been confirmed dead. Halliburton worker Thomas Hamill escaped on May 2 and returned home on Saturday.

Nick Berg was in Baghdad from late December to February 1 and returned to Iraq in March.

During the second visit he was jailed by Iraqi officials at a checkpoint in the city of Mosul.

On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the US military. The next day he was released. The Bergs last heard from their son on April 9, when he said he would come home by way of Jordan, Turkey or Kuwait.