National News Video of American being beheaded appears on al-Qaeda-linked Web site

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BAGHDAD (AP) - A video posted May 11 on an al-Qaeda-linked Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq in what was said to be revenge for abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit - similar to a prisoner's uniform. The man identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian whose body was found May 8 near a highway overpass in Baghdad.

"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in Philadelphia."

The men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!"). They then held the head up to the camera.

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage with some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," one of the men read from a statement.

"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffin after coffin, slaughtered in this way."

The video bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American," but it was unclear whether al-Zarqawi - a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden - was actually present in the video.

Meanwhile, shaken U.S. lawmakers said May 12 that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops went beyond the photos seen by most people around the world, after viewing new pictures and videoes that depicted forced sex, brutality and dogs snarling at cowed prisoners.

ネット上に米民間人殺害映像公開

武装グループが米民間人男性の首を切り落として殺害する様子を収めた映像が11日、アルカイダ関連のウエブサイトで流れた。米兵のイラク人虐待への報復だとしている。

Shukan ST: May 21, 2004

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