Berg says he's concerned about safety in Iraq on Michael Moore footage

Newsday.com - AP Regional:

By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer

May 29, 2004, 12:27 PM EDT

In a 16-minute interview shot for Michael Moore's latest film, slain American Nicholas Berg said he was nervous about the security situation in Iraq as he prepared to travel there as an independent businessman, Berg's family said Saturday.

Moore's crew shot the footage at an Iraqi business conference in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 4, brother David Berg said. Nicholas Berg's decapitated body was found in Baghdad on May 8, and a video of his killing was posted on an Islamic militant Web site several days later.

David Berg said Moore has handled the situation with "dignity, respect and discipline."

"Michael Moore has really been a total class act with this whole thing," David Berg said. "He could have sold this to the media or stuck it in his movie."









Moore on Thursday confirmed he had footage of Berg _ shot for the anti-President Bush film 'Fahrenheit 9/11' _ but said he would share it only with the family. Berg's brother and sister praised Moore for that, and said they would also keep the footage private.

Berg's sister, Sara Berg, said her brother told Moore's crew he was nervous about his safety in Iraq.

'He recognized it was a concern, and he kind of pointed out that he'd worked in difficult situations before,' Sara Berg said. 'It's definitely something that he didn't shrug off.' "