Nick Berg, the young American beheaded by terrorists in Iraq, had an earlier encounter with a Muslim fanatic – he inadvertently provided accused 9/11 al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui with his e-mail password.
The bizarre twist was confirmed by the Justice Department and Berg’s father. In what a Justice Department official described as a “coincidental” link, both the telecommunications whiz from West Chester, Pa., and the accused 9/11 conspirator were in Norman, Okla., in 2000. Berg was a student at the University of Oklahoma and Moussaoui was newly settled and hoping to learn to fly jetliners.
The FBI questioned Berg in 2002 after discovering Moussaoui had used his e-mail account. The agency determined the American had innocently given it to someone, who passed it along to Moussaoui and others, the Justice Department official said.
Berg was taking a course that required traveling to a remote campus on a bus that went near an airport, according to his father, Michael Berg.
“Someone [on the bus] asked to use his computer. College kids do that all the time. It turned out that this guy was a terrorist and he used my son’s e-mail amongst many other students he did that to,” said the senior Berg.
Moussaoui is the only suspect indicted in the United States for the 9/11 attacks.
Meanwhile, Berg’s family produced a bombshell e-mail that directly contradicts U.S. claims that its military was not involved in detaining their son for 13 days.
The e-mail, sent to Berg’s parents by the U.S. consular officer in Iraq, states, “I have confirmed that your son, Nick, is being detained by the U.S. military in Mosul. He is safe. He was picked up approximately one week ago.”