Nicholas Berg

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Nicholas Evan Berg (born April 2, 1978 in West Chester , Pennsylvania , † May 7, 2004 ) was an American businessman who became known for his video-filmed beheading during the uprising against the occupation of Iraq after the Third Gulf War . His death marked the beginning of further murders of Western hostages in Iraq. The video recalled the 2002 murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

Life

Nicholas Berg was from West Chester, Pennsylvania, 26 years old and of Jewish religion . He had traveled to Iraq on his own initiative to repair transmitters there. Nicholas Berg wanted to fly back to the USA in mid-March 2004 , but was arrested by the Iraqi police at a road block in Mosul and then released on April 6, 2004 after 13 days in detention. At this point in time, there was a major uprising against the occupation forces by Iraqi groups, which led to particularly unsafe conditions for foreigners.

A few days later, Berg was kidnapped . Allegedly, the kidnappers offered the US an exchange for prisoners from the Iraqi Abu Ghuraib prison , which the US had rejected. The existence of such an offer was denied by official US agencies.

The video of the assassination was broadcast on the Internet and in the media on May 11, 2004. It shows five masked men and Nicholas Berg in orange overalls. Abu Musab al- Zarqawi (1966–2006), a leading member of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, is said to have been among the people . At the beginning of the video Berg says: “ My name is Nick Berg. My father's name is Michael. My mother's name is Suzanne. I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia. ”The masked men then read out a statement in which they cite the revenge for the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in Abu Ghuraib prison as justification for their action . Then they throw Berg to the ground and kill him by cutting off his head with a machete. His body was found near Baghdad on May 8, 2004 .

On May 18, 2004, it was reported that four suspects had been arrested. After contradicting reports, this was confirmed by the USA on May 21, 2004, according to ARD.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Uwe Schmitt: "My name is Nick Berg" . In: Die Welt , May 13, 2004
  2. Marc Pitzke: The life and death of Nick Berg. In: Spiegel Online . May 12, 2004, accessed July 14, 2017 .
  3. a b Olivia Schoeller: Retaliation . In: Berliner Zeitung , May 13, 2004
  4. a b Michal Kirk, Mike Wiser: The Secret History of IS - America's Mistakes in the Middle East. (No longer available online.) WGBH Educational Foundation 2016, German adaptation by Kevinfilm for ZDF , 2016, archived from the original on July 20, 2017 ; accessed on July 14, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zdf.de
  5. ^ Nick Berg Beheaded in Iraq. In: ABC News .com. May 11, 2004, accessed July 25, 2017 .
  6. CIA: Zarqawi beheaded Americans. In: FAZ.net . May 13, 2004. Retrieved July 25, 2017 .
  7. Yassin Musharbash, Matthias Gebauer: Revenge for US torture: Bin Laden confidante cuts off Americans' heads. In: Spiegel Online . May 11, 2004, accessed July 14, 2017 .
  8. Four arrests after the beheading of hostage in Iraq. In: FAZ.net . May 18, 2004, accessed July 25, 2017 .