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Family of executed American angry with US govt
Philadelphia, May 13: Family and friends of the American civilian executed by Islamic militants are angry about government denials that their son was ever in US custody in Iraq, a family spokesman said yesterday.
Philadelphia, May 13: Family and friends of the American civilian executed by Islamic militants are angry about government denials that their son was ever in US custody in Iraq, a family spokesman said yesterday.
Meanwhile, the body of businessman Nick Berg arrived at Dover air force base in Delaware, funeral director Carl Goldstein said outside the family's suburban home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.
Neighbor Bruce Hauser, who has acted as a family spokesman, said, ''The community feels that if the government had Nick Berg in their control they should have sought to release Berg back to his home country.''
''I have to believe that the American government had him in their custody. The Bergs knew that Nick was in their custody and the Bergs wanted the government to release him so he could come home,'' Hauser said.
The FBI said on Wednesday it learned on March 25 that Iraqi police had detained berg. The agency said berg told FBI agents he was in Iraq to acquire contracts for his communications tower business.
The FBI said its agents emphasized the dangerous environment in Iraq and encouraged him to accept an offer from the coalition provisional authority in Iraq to facilitate safe passage out of the country.
''Berg refused these offers,'' the FBI statement said. ''He also refused government offers to advise his family and friends of his status.''
The family spokesman rejected the suggestion that the 26-year-old Berg turned down a US offer to get him out of the country.
''The idea that they offered to get nick out and he turned them down, knowing his life was in danger -- I don't believe that,'' Hauser said.
On April 5, nearly two weeks after berg disappeared in Iraq, the family sued in federal court in Philadelphia and named US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld as responsible for their son's disappearance.
Bureau Report
Neighbor Bruce Hauser, who has acted as a family spokesman, said, ''The community feels that if the government had Nick Berg in their control they should have sought to release Berg back to his home country.''
''I have to believe that the American government had him in their custody. The Bergs knew that Nick was in their custody and the Bergs wanted the government to release him so he could come home,'' Hauser said.
The FBI said on Wednesday it learned on March 25 that Iraqi police had detained berg. The agency said berg told FBI agents he was in Iraq to acquire contracts for his communications tower business.
The FBI said its agents emphasized the dangerous environment in Iraq and encouraged him to accept an offer from the coalition provisional authority in Iraq to facilitate safe passage out of the country.
''Berg refused these offers,'' the FBI statement said. ''He also refused government offers to advise his family and friends of his status.''
The family spokesman rejected the suggestion that the 26-year-old Berg turned down a US offer to get him out of the country.
''The idea that they offered to get nick out and he turned them down, knowing his life was in danger -- I don't believe that,'' Hauser said.
On April 5, nearly two weeks after berg disappeared in Iraq, the family sued in federal court in Philadelphia and named US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld as responsible for their son's disappearance.
Bureau Report