CNN Transcript On Nick Berg Murder

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CNN LIVE TODAY
May 12, 2004

Transcript Excerpt:

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, DEPUTY OPS DIR., U.S. MILITARY: Elaborate on it.

DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: Sure. Mr. Berg was arrested by the Iraqi police in the Mosul area on March 24. I would refer you to the Iraqi police as to why they arrested him. My understanding is that they suspected that he was involved, engaged in suspicious activities. U.S. authorities were notified. The FBI visited with Mr. Berg on three occasions when he was in Iraqi police detention, and determined that he was not involved with any criminal or terrorist activities. Mr. Berg was released on April 6, and it is my understanding he was advised to leave the country. He, as you know, was found dead on May 8 and his family was notified on May 10.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We're going to continue to monitor the coalition news conference and bring you any news updates from Baghdad.

Meanwhile, more now on Nicholas Berg. His body could arrive in the U.S. as early as today. His hometown is reeling from the ghastly news. Maria Hinojosa is in West Chester, Pennsylvania with more on that -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: .... But at that point, there is a problem when Nick is detained by the Mosul police, as you know, then handed off to the authorities. Now, the parents might have some issues with what the coalition forces are saying about the detention, because they sued Donald Rumsfeld and the Department of Defense saying that they were holding Nick Berg without due process. And that because he was held for those days, he missed his March 30 departure date; so there is a lawsuit that was filed family. It has since been rescinded by the family. At this point they're still in seclusion. They're still not talking but the father says this before he even knew his son was killed. He said -- had this to say about his son and why he went to Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)



http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0405/12/lt.03.html

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1. Another CNN Transcript

This is a partial transcript of another news story regarding the murder:

Body of Nicholas Berg Flown Home Today

Aired May 12, 2004 - 11:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 A.M. on the East coast and 8:00 a.m. on the west coast. Good morning, I'm Daryn Kagan.
Up first on CNN, the body of Nicholas Berg is being flown home to the U.S. today. The Philadelphia area man was beheaded by captors in Iraq. In a videotape posted on an al Qaeda-linked Web site.

The murder was apparently meant to avenge the humiliation and mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. We begin our coverage with our National Security Correspondent David Ensor.

(KAGAN: U.S. officials in Iraq promise a thorough investigation into the kidnaping and killing of Nicholas Berg. For more on that and reaction from within Iraq, let's bring in CNN's Karl Penhaul, who is live in Baghdad -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Daryn. Yes, in an afternoon press briefing, coalition spokesman Dan Senor did promise a thorough coalition investigation into the murder of Nick Berg.

That said there were far more questions than answers at that press briefing. What Dan Senor did tell us was that Nick Berg came into Iraq from Jordan. He was a self-employed contractor looking for work but with no firm promise of work. He was though Dan Senor told us arrested by Iraqi police near the northern city of Mosul on March 24.

He was held then for the following 12 days. During that time, Dan Senor says he was visited at least three times by the FBI on suspicion that he may be involved in some kind of criminal terrorist activity, though they found no evidence of that.

General Kimmitt, the coalition military spokesman, said that U.S. military police also visited Nick Berg to see what his conditions were like. That said, after that, Dan Senor says he doesn't know why Nick Berg was released.

He said he doesn't know the circumstances of his arrest. He's referring all further questions about this to Mosul police station. That said, Mosul police station is very firmly under coalition control and unclear at this stage why Dan Senor is referring those questions to the Mosul police rather than taking them on himself.

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