CNN Breaking: 4 arrested in the Berg Murder (2 released)...

[Cooley Hurd]

AP link: Four Arrested In Berg Killing

American's Murder Was Videotaped

Was Last Seen Alive On April 10

May 21, 2004 6:47 am US/Mountain
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Iraqi police have arrested four people in the killing of American Nicholas Berg, an Iraqi security official said Friday.

The suspects were former members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen paramilitary organization, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They were arrested a week ago.

[jean]

1. what nice news on a Friday, even though it happened last week

[tjwash]

35. They are even trying to link al Qaeda to Iraq.

"A video showing Berg's decapitation was posted on a Web site linked to al Qaeda earlier this month."

The whore press just can't stop tryng to make it seem like al Qaeda is based in Iraq.

Pathetic.

[gp]

2. cnn recycles breaking news stories?? n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Didn't they already arrest 4 suspects

a few days ago?

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Sky News reported on it last week...

...but it was never picked up by any other news source until today. :shrug:

[ze_dscherman]

8. Was picked up by German news May 18th

However, the capture was promptly denied by Kimmit


http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,300526,00.html

[gasperc]

17. CNN said it on Tuesday

I guess it re-broke today to distract us from something else, like the Iraqi rage over the wedding massacre(non-massacre) depending on who you believe

[Nihil]

6. Guess you must have caught the pilot before the general release.

Most production companies will use a pilot programme to "test the water"
before taking on a complete series - especially if the audience reception
is likely to be less than agreeable.

This way, they can correct the format of the main show, the details
and the small plot discrepancies for comparatively low cost.

(You did know that this was fiction didn't you?)

[Spazito]

5. Hmmm, more prison photos, video and testimony...

and, voila, the US announces the capture of 4 suspects in the Berg murder, 4 suspects that were captured LAST WEEK and was already announced. Just a coincidence, I say, no, really, just a coincidence!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. The timing of the arrests is just as interesting as the timing of the

video release. Can't wait for the convictions.

[CO Liberal]

9. If CNN is "Breaking" This Story Again....

...there must be something big they want to deflect attention away from.

:tinfoilhat:

[Cooley Hurd]

13. My money's on the recent release of more Abu Ghraib pics...

...and videos. Bill Hemmer got the call from Rove and, as always, obeyed his master...

I fucking HATE Hemmer - he actually said this morning that the Abu Ghraib scandal is detracting from "all the good news coming out of Iraq."

WHAT GOOD NEWS, YA NITWIT???? :grr:

[struggle4progress]

14. Ding Ding Ding!

Jail abuse crisis deepens with new images
Hundreds of so-far-unreleased photographs and short digital videos show US soldiers physically and emotionally abusing detainees last northern autumn in Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.
The new pictures and videos obtained by The Washington Post go beyond those previously seen by the public in several ways, amplifying the overt violence against detainees and displaying a variety of abusive techniques previously unseen. They show soldiers assaulting prisoners, forcing detainees to masturbate, and standing over a naked prisoner while holding a shotgun.
<snip>
The new images do not shed light on who directed the abuse, a question central to the court cases of the 372nd Military Police Company soldiers charged in the abuse scandal. But the pictures do show soldiers appearing to delight in the abuses, and they starkly reveal detainees cowering in fear.
In one video clip, five hooded and naked detainees stand against the wall in the darkness, each masturbating, with two other hooded detainees crouched at their feet. Another shows a prisoner handcuffed to the outside of a cell door. He repeatedly slams his head into the green metal, leaving streaks of blood before he ultimately collapses at the feet of a cameraman.
<snip>
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/21/1085120120940.html

Edit: There's some really ugly stuff in this story.

[Just Me]

18. Contrary to FBI's initial assessment al Zarqawi was the perpetrator,...

,...new reports are that one of Saddam's nephew was the ringleader.

:shrug:

[UpInArms]

22. related article: Two held in Berg beheading case

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/21/berg/

excerpt:

An Iraqi security official said the four men who decapitated Berg and videotaped it were members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen paramilitary organization, according to The Associated Press.

The AP reported the official believes the men were led by a nephew of Saddam Hussein, Yasser al-Sabawi. The nephew was not among those arrested, the official told the AP.

...more...

[Just Me]

26. I am just SOOOOOOO tired of the bullsh*t. So tired of it. n/t

[keithyboy]

39. So, Zargawi is related to Saddam?

Either by blood or marriage. :shrug:

[mumon]

42. That's right! Their "voice analysis"

was bullshit!

[markses]

10. CNN now reporting 2 of the 4 released

How long before the other two "confess." Somebody call Charles graner. these prisoners are not cooperating.

Fedayeen my fucking ass.

[Cooley Hurd]

12. This "Breaking News" obviously is bullshit...

...2 were released? Evidently, they have the wrong guys. Have they interviewed Aziz Taee yet? I still believe, after Berg called him and told him where he was, Taee called his buddies in the Russian Mafia and had Berg "whacked" (on order of Aziz Taee's NeoCon handlers)...
:tinfoilhat:

[Terran]

11. The plot sickens

This story is as suspicious and stinky as the rest of the Berg matter. This story first appeared a week ago--why hasn't there been any follow-up, statements by the Coalition authority, by Bush, by the Iraqis, *anybody*? The story is carried at Yahoo this AM as well, and it may as well not exist for how undetailed it is. What the hell is going on here?

[struggle4progress]

15. Related thread:

May 18th arrest story:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=563009&mesg_id=563009

[maddezmom]

19. thanks for the link...AFP also reported the same day

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Four people have been arrested over the beheading of US businessman Nicholas Berg, whose killing was shown earlier this month in a video on an Al-Qaeda linked website, a senior Iraqi source said.


AFP/HO Photo



Asked if more than one person had been arrested in connection with the killing, the source told AFP: "Yes, four people."


Berg's beheading was shown on a grainy video posted on the Islamic website linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s terror network, days after his body was found in Baghdad on May 8.


"We have made good progress," the source added, referring to the investigation, but declined to give any details on the identity of the four people held in detention.


But it was understood that none of the four included Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who US authorities believe carried out the killing of the 26-year-old who was in Iraq (news - web sites) to drum up business for his small telecommunications company.
~snip~


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=3&u

[maddezmom]

20. but of course the link is no longer working n/t

[daleo]

23. If they do solve this, it will be the first murder solved in a year

Well, I don't know if it would be the only one, but one of a very few.

Since the invasion, I have read that Iraq has had little success at maintaining civil security (regular rapes, murders, robberies, etc. that go on in any country). It would be more than a little ironic if the Berg murder was one of the very few solved this year.

Who knows what the standards of evidence would be in a trial for this crime, assuming there would even be a trial.

[jobycom]

16. MSNBC say arrests in ABDUCTION, not beheading

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4953015/

[lockdown]

25. Here comes the spin

Shortly after that report, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told reporters that four men suspected of involvement in Berg's death were detained in a raid Wednesday, and that two had since been released.

It was not clear if those four were the same individuals cited by the Iraqi official has having been detained last week.

U.S. officials in Baghdad told NBC News that they believe Berg was abducted by one group and then "sold" to a second group that killed him. That group, which the CIA believes includes Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is still at large.

Ah, so that explains how it's still al-Zarqawi wot did it, even though the people arrested had nothing to do with him. I wouldn't be surprised if these are four different people to the ones arrested last week, with this news designed to explain away that original (and instantly killed) story and the lack of an al-Zarqawi connection.

[Straight Shooter]

27. Now we have another question added to the mystery

U.S. officials in Baghdad told NBC News that they believe Berg was abducted by one group and then "sold" to a second group that killed him. That group, which the CIA believes includes Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is still at large.

What made Berg such a valuable victim that he was kidnapped by one group and sold to another? This has not happened before with any other kidnapping victims, IIRC.

That smell of BS is all over the Nick Berg incident.

[lockdown]

29. Different arrests or is Kimmitt just "confused"?

The suspects were detained during a raid Wednesday in Baghdad, Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt said at a news conference. Earlier Friday, an Iraqi security official said four people were arrested in the Berg slaying a week ago in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad, and that the head of the group responsible for the killing was led by a relative of Saddam Hussein.

It was unclear whether Kimmitt and the Iraqi security official, who requested anonymity, were referring to different groups of suspects.

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=869723d5-e68a-4461-8943-f85bbac5e47b

Either Kimmitt is mistaken on the date or they're different arrests. Besides that anonymous source, the previous news reports of four arrests were before Wednesday.

On edit: oops, just realised they're different locations too.

[Just Me]

30. Well, if someone is trying to cover up a trail of evidence,...

,...I could see that proposition (that one group paid another to turn over an abductee) as being quite viable.

Could be someone paid a group to do the abduction and turn over the abductee to another unnamed group.

[lockdown]

31. That's certainly plausible

but the way the original story was killed has me extremely suspicious of this elaboration. And now you have Kimmitt and Iraqi sources contradicting each other on when and where the four arrests were made, with Kimmitt saying it was on Wednesday, which is after those original reports appeared. Maybe that's an honest mistake on his part, but I have trouble with any theory that features "Kimmitt" and "honest" in the same sentence!

[Just Me]

32. Oh, I am in complete agreement. Kimmitt is a propaganda generator.

I start with an assumption that whatever comes out of his mouth may contain seeds of truth but are thickly rolled in alot of propaganda.

[Spazito]

21. If this was meant to divert attention from the new photos, video...

it isn't working in Canada. CTV newsnet has the torture story from the WP as the leading story, followed up by the hiring of men that were fired for abuse in the US. NOTHING on any capture of Berg kidnappers.

[spooked]

24. Divert attention from news of American VOICES heard on Berg Audio

http://www.atsnn.com/story/51616.html

English Words Spoken on Nick Berg Beheading Video

ATSNN has uncovered a shocking revelation contained in the audio portion of the Nick Berg beheading video. Listening closely, at the very end of the video when Berg's head is being held before the camera, you can hear background voices and whispers. One voice, however, is very clear. An American-sounding voice, speaking english.

For a full MP3 audio version of the beheading video: CLICK HERE to download (AUDIO-ONLY full-version MP3 file of the beheading). (File-size: 936 KB)

Instructions for hearing the voices:
Open the file in any appropriate media player for playing MP3 files. Slide the audio control over to approximately 5:10, or about the last 5% of the audio track. Now begin listening with the sound turned up as far as you can tolerate, or with a decent pair of headphones.

At 5:12 you'll clearly hear the following english statement in what certainly appears to be an American voice:
"How wicked was that?" (pause) "Huh?"

This is followed with a response:

"hoo-ah"

Then you'll hear another short pause, followed by:
"How are we gonna..." and the audio ends in mid-sentence.

[Just Me]

28. That was one aspect I never got to review,...the audio,...

For whatever reason, I never could get the audio.

This is another interesting development.

[diatribe]

33. I haven't watched or heard the video until now......

I just listened to the audio part - at 5:10 and I have to say, beyond a doubt, some one said "How wicked was that?" and the "How are we gonna..."

I only listened to the audio supplied by the website listed. Does anyone hear this on any other version?

[TahitiNut]

34. On iraq2vediom.wmv ...

... I hear it. It sounds like a deep, calm American voice to me. It comes at 13:46:28 according to the on-screen timestamp, and all audio is shut off at that point, as though the audio was edited (clumsily) to possibly eliminate even more obvious background conversation.

[0007]

40. This whole thing is stinking more with each passing day.

[abracadabra]

36. BERG video PROVEN FAKE ** no doubt about it !! worst scam yet !!

I can't wait for this to make it to our mainstream Corporate Media!!
(it probably won't ever)
But we can tell our friends not to be fooled and pass on the links--

http://www.globalfreepress.com

ON EDIT: link has been removed by those who want to hush this
NEW MIRROR LINK here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Berg

Berg video shows person with a 'US military cap' in frames (globalfreepress.com citing Aztlan.net research) Berg decapitation video was filmed inside the Abu Ghraib prison --by Hector Carreon, La Voz de Aztlan, May 16, 2004 "...The most telling evidence that the video of the decapitation of Nicholas Berg was taken inside the Abu Ghraib prison can only be detected by performing a frame by frame analysis. La Voz de Aztlan did just that and some revealing frames came up that are difficult to see if the video is played on normal speed. Towards the end of the video, at frames 9306 through 9368, a person with a US military cap temporarily pokes about a quarter of his left head into the video. His neck, left ear and part of his cap and visor can be seen."
--->careful not to watch this if you are like me-->
http://www.Aztlan.net

info about the "scam"

http://www.legitgov.org/

[PotatoBoy]

37. Stop this f'ing nonsense

The video is not fake, and it's not a military cap.. other threads have already determined it's a finger.

Easy on the tin foil there, man... the whole Berg thing is not THAT much of a freaking conspiracy. It's just very questionable who his killers were, and why they killed him. But yes, I will grant that it does look like this video was shot in Abu Ghraib prison.

[abracadabra]

46. yeah, and we believe there wer WMD's there in Iraq too !!!

Ha ha
EZ on the tinfoil?
no it's not tinfoil
It's Reynolds Wrap..ooops, I mean Rummy's Wrap
...no it's Rummy's RAP
did you even bother to look at the links?

The video was proven fake. It doesn't take a genius to see how ridiculous it is.!!!
And even if you don't beieve their analysis, the human heart pumps WAY too much blood for that video to even be close to real.
In other words, if you cut the main arteries in the neck blood pumps like no tomorrow all over everywhere and gallons of it .
That is a bad Halloween video and you can even hear American Voices in the end of it.
Do your research. But then again you probably did and you believe that Saddam was about to take over the free world with his WMD's!
Ha
talk about foil !!!

[PotatoBoy]

50. It's not FAKE.... maybe fishy

I mean, Nick is obviously dead. It's not like he's alive & well working for the CIA now or something. Maybe they killed him and let him die before cutting his head off. I don't know for sure, no one really does.

I think we should be focusing on who his killers were though, and where he was killed.

[PotatoBoy]

38. Wow, they caught 4 suspects?? Incredible

Iraqi police caught them? How? Considering no one really spoke except the head guy..and everyone is covered up. Wow, those Iraqi police must be some real sleuths.

This is all total BS. Just like when the CIA said it was highly probable that the guy reading was Zarqawi. How the hell did they come to that conclusion? Voice analysis, they said? Can they tell us which audio clip of Zarqawi they compared to?

[pacifictiger]

41. Anyone else find this just too conveniently

neat and tidy? I wonder who they framed - coerced confessions?
They're still not doing too good in finding BinLaden, or Danny Pearle's killers.

[demgrrrll]

44. Yes, as usual. They know what is coming and they know what to release

and when they will need something to knock something else off
the front page.



Oh Smarty Jones, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you

[lockdown]

43. Informant in (original?) arrests was killed the next day

The Guardian has this detail on the arrests,

Four suspects had arrived early for the 7pm meeting and were inside the house, waiting for a fifth associate who escaped arrest, he said.

The Iraqi police appear to have done a poor job of protecting their informant, who was killed by unidentified gunmen the following day, the official admitted. Police seized weapons and explosives at the scene. Last night the suspects were believed to be still in Iraqi hands.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1222362,00.html

Again, Iraqi and US sources seem to be talking about different arrests. In today's press conference, Kimmitt said,

In Baghdad today, coalition forces conducted a raid to capture four individuals suspected of involvement in the Nicholas Berg assassination. Four persons were detained and questioned. Two personnel were released, and the other two are still being questioned. My correction: that raid happened two days ago.

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040521-0790.html

We're expected to believe they arrested these four people gathered in a house containing explosives, then just let two of them go within 2 days? Yeah, because they'd never detain someone without solid evidence, what with their respect of due process and all that. In his other answers Kimmitt seems to be downplaying the possible guilt of the remaining two too.

Seems to me "US sources" are talking about different people and trying to muddy the waters. The reports earlier this week of arrests unrelated to al-Zarqawi were quickly buried, and they are now misdirecting and releasing contradictory information to keep that lack of a link buried.

I think it's worth noting that the BBC hasn't reported any of this today. Earlier in the week they briefly mentioned the original reports of 4 arrests, then dropped it like a hot potato and never mentioned it again. Now there's nothing on their web site about these new reports of arrests. Dunno, maybe they don't deem it important, but given the prominence they usually give to news from Iraq, that seems odd to me.

[maddezmom]

47. great links

thanks for posting

[lockdown]

49. You're welcome

:)

[Lou_C]

45. Bush & Cheney?

:shrug:

[lockdown]

48. There are two different sets of arrests here

Kimmitt said coalition forces on Wednesday captured four people suspected of involvement in Berg's killing, and were still questioning the two still in custody.

"I don't know their prior affiliations or prior organizations," he said. "We have some intelligence that would suggest they have knowledge, perhaps some culpability."

An Iraqi security official also told The Associated Press that four people were arrested in the case, but he appeared to be referring to a different group of detainees that he said was led by a relative of Saddam.

The official said Iraqi police on May 14 arrested four suspects - all former members of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary organization - in a raid in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad. The group was led by Yasser al-Sabawi, a Saddam nephew who was not among those captured, the official said on condition of anonymity.

http://www.dailyherald.com/news_story.asp?intid=3812921

Check other links on the thread, blatant inconsistencies. As I've said, US sources are talking about another four arrests to obscure the lack of an al-Zarqawi connection in the original four arrests, and then confusing matters more with these stories of one group kidnapping Nick Berg then selling him to the group who beheaded him.

That's an apparent cover up with heavy implications. If they deliberately misidentified al-Zarqawi that's bad enough (if not surprising), but when the website that originally posted the video engaged in the same deception... that's troubling to say the least. Did al-Zarqawi identify himself in the audio?

(Speculation) - Could the "Iraqi sources" in these reports and the Iraqis still detaining four suspects be linked to, or sympathetic with, Chalabi?

[stickdog]

51. Zarqawi WASN'T in the video. And nobody in the video said

he was Zarqawi.

All of these arrest reports are bs disinfo.

[lockdown]

52. OK thanks

didn't know if he'd also been identified in the audio (ie. by name, not voiceprint stuff, which would've proved that the speech was dubbed on if the actual perpetrators were shown to have nothing to do with him). Don't get me wrong, it's not that I accepted the story that bogeyman al-Zarqawi personally did the deed or was in the video, just trying to clarify the extent of the frameup.

Don't think all these arrest reports are bs though. Who knows, maybe it is just psyops from two directions, but the way the initial reports were squashed tells me someone really didn't want that story out there, which suggests it's worth paying attention to. And now it seems clear to me that the current misdirection from the US is designed to play down and confuse the continuing reports of four arrests from Iraqi sources, whoever they are. Knowing the al-Zarqawi story is bullshit is one thing, but I get the impression those four detainees could prove there is no al-Zarqawi link, hence the frantic muddying of waters.

Someone tell me I'm sane, surely I'm not the only one who sees 2 sets of 4 arrests?