The claim is that it is revenge for the torture of detained Iraqis in US military prisons.
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 – who identified himself as Nick Berg, a contractor from West Chester, Pa., whose body was found on a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.
“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 coffins after coffins … slaughtered in this way.”The video bore the title “Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American.” It was unclear whether al-Zarqawi – a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden – was shown in the video, or was claiming responsibility for ordering the execution.
The man was found today on an overpass in Baghdad. The military described the body as “showing signs of trauma.”
CORRECTION: The body was found Saturday. The announcement was made today.
UPDATE: The Guardian adds some dialogue:
“How can a free Muslim sleep well as he sees Islam slaughtered and its dignity bleeding, and the pictures of shame and the news of the devilish scorn of the people of Islam – men and women – in the prison of Abu Ghraib?” the speaker said on the video.
[…]
In the video, the speaker threatened both US President George Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.“As for you Bush … expect severe days. You and your soldiers will regret the day you stepped into the land of Iraq,” he said. He described Mr Musharraf as “a traitor agent.”
More from the Guardian piece:
Mr Berg was in Baghdad from late December to February 1 and returned to Iraq in March. He failed to find work and planned again to return home on March 30, but his daily communications with his family stopped on March 24. He later told his parents he was jailed by Iraqi officials at a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul.
On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the US military. The next day Mr Berg was released. He told his parents he had not been mistreated.
The Bergs last heard from their son April 9, when he said he would come home by way of Jordan, Turkey or Kuwait.
Suzanne Berg said the family had been trying for weeks to learn where her son was but that federal officials had not been helpful.
“I went through this with them for weeks,” she said. “I basically ended up doing most of the investigating myself.”