Family
Demand U.S. Answers Over Beheaded Son
By Jon Hurdle
WEST
CHESTER, Pa. (Reuters) - The parents of Nick Berg, the American civilian
beheaded in Iraq, said on Tuesday their son might be alive if he had
not been held for nearly two weeks by Iraqi police and they were angry
at the lack of information from the U.S. government about his detention.
Their
congressman, Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach, said after visiting Berg's
parents that they had been frustrated by lack of information from the
U.S. government when Berg was detained without charge by Iraqi police
from around March 24 until his release on April 6.
"Had
he not been detained for so long it's quite possible he would have made
it back to the U.S.," Gerlach said, adding that Berg had missed
a plane flight because he was incarcerated .
"They
did not feel they were getting the full information they wanted to help
them understand what was happening," Gerlach, whose constituency
includes the Bergs' Philadelphia suburban hometown of West Chester,
Pennsylvania, said at a news briefing.
He
said he would be seeking further information from the U.S. government
as to why they had not provided information to the family.
On
Tuesday, a poor quality videotape posted on an Islamic militant Web
site showed Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheading a man who said he was
Nick Berg. The videotape carried statements vowing more killings in
revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in a Baghdad prison by U.S.
soldiers.
Berg
was in Baghdad from late December to Feb. 1 and returned to Iraq in
March. He did not find work and planned to return home at the end of
March, according to his parents, Michael and Suzanne Berg.
