Beheading, abuse link rejected

2004-05-12 21:39

Washington - The White House has rejected any link between the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and the "brutal, barbaric" beheading of US citizen Nick Berg.

A day after Berg's blood-curdling slaying by masked assailants was broadcast on an internet site, spokesperson Scott McClellan rejected their claim that they were avenging the mistreatment at the prison near Baghdad.

"Terrorists are going to seek any excuse, and try to change their excuses to try to justify murder, destruction and chaos," he said, emphasising it was important to "separate the two" issues.

"There simply is no justification for the deliberate and brutal killing of an innocent civilian," he said. "The brutal barbaric action of these terrorists shows their true nature."

'Important that we finish the mission'

United States President George W Bush expressed "his deepest condolences" to Berg's family, said McClellan.

"Nicholas Berg wanted to help build a free Iraq for the Iraqi people. He was an innocent civilian seeking to help."

"It is important that we finish the mission in Iraq and not be deterred by the terrorists who have no regard for innocent life," he said.

"A free and peaceful Iraq is critical to winning the war on terrorism."

In a grainy video on an Islamist website linked to the al-Qaeda terror network, Berg was shown being decapitated with a large knife by a group of masked men who claimed their action was in revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

After the killing, shouts of "Allahu akbar" (God is great) are heard and then the men hold his head up to the camera. Berg's remains were found along a road near Baghdad on Saturday by US troops.

Berg, a 26-year-old businessman from Pennsylvania, had been missing in Iraq since mid-April.

- AFP