The Nicholas Berg story [link to NYT] is unfolding in interesting ways, and it seems to be very complex. Since this subject has already taken over my Onion thread, I thought I'd start a new thread here. My impression of the man, from superficial research, is that he's someome I would have liked who naively went to Iraq believing there were finacial opportunities in reconstruction.

Boston Globe: Mosul police chief denies detaining slain American Nicholas Berg:

Iraqi police never detained an American whose decapitated body was found last week in Baghdad, the police chief said Thursday, despite U.S. insistence that Nicholas Berg was held by local authorities here shortly before he disappeared last month.

The FBI:

Mr. Berg was interviewed by FBI Agents at an Iraqi Police Station in Mosul, Iraq, while in the custody of the Iraqi Police. Mr. Berg told Agents that he had entered Iraq through Jordan for the purpose of establishing working relationships and to acquire contracts for his business. After a thorough review of records, the FBI relayed to the U.S. military and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) that no derogatory information was developed about Mr. Berg that would warrant further detention by the Iraqi Police. During interviews with Mr. Berg, FBI Agents and CPA officials emphasized to him the dangerous environment that exists in Iraq, and encouraged him to accept CPAÅfs offer to facilitate his safe passage out of Iraq. Mr. Berg refused these offers. The CPA coordinated with the Iraqi police for Mr. BergÅfs release on 4/6/04. He also refused government offers to advise his family and friends of his status.

AP [in the NJ Star Ledger]:

On April 5, the Bergs sued the government in federal court in Philadelphia, contending their son was being held illegally. In a writ filed that day in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, the Bergs said the State Department told them their son "is currently detained in Mosul, Iraq, by the United States military" and that American diplomats "no longer" had "any authority or power to intervene" on his behalf.

Berg was released the day after the suit was filed. His family said he told them he had not been mistreated. They did not hear from him after April 9 -- when violence flared in Iraq because of the U.S. Marines' siege of Fallujah and a Shi'a uprising in the south.

Several days later, diplomats received an e-mail from Berg's family that "noted he had not been in contact," Shannon said.

It does seem to me that it is not a coincidence that Berg seems to have been bagged by his murderers only days after his parents' lawsuit sprung him from jail. The NYT mentions troublesome jailhouse rumors that required giving him his own cell:

He conjectured that [the FBI's] questions arose from some Farsi literature and a book about Iran that he had. Mr. Berg wrote that after four days he was transferred to a cellblock that included prisoners charged with petty offenses and suspected "war criminals."

"Word had spread due to the presence of certain items amongst my stuff that I was Israeli," Mr. Berg wrote. "So I felt a bit like Arlo Guthrie walking into a jail full of mother rapers and father stabbers as an accused litterbug."

The American military police, in fact, "were pretty stand-up," he wrote. "They heard the chants of Yehudien, Israelein, and told the I.P. prison staff to put me in my own cell."

"I did get on much friendlier terms with the other prisoners after they discovered I could speak a little Arabic and verified I didn't have horns or anything," Mr. Berg said.

UPDATE: For reasons best known to Google, this entry seems to have attracted over 2,000 visitors directed here by search engines. Welcome people. Do have a look around the rest of this weblog.

FURTHER UPDATE: There is a Nicholas Berg Memorial web site that has stories from people who knew him. Also, a memorial fund has been set up. You can donate to it via PayPal.