By Gerry J. Gilmore<br />American Forces Press Service<br /><br />WASHINGTON, May 21, 2004 – Coalition forces captured four individuals suspected<br />of involvement in the murder of American contractor Nicholas Berg during a May<br />19 raid in Baghdad, a senior U.S. military spokesman noted today.<br /><br />Two detainees have been released, while the others remain in coalition custody,<br />Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Multinational<br />Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad press conference.<br /><br />Berg, who had been in Iraq seeking work, was reported missing in early April.<br />His decapitated body was found in Baghdad May 8. The American's murder by his<br />captors was depicted on videotape that was broadcast over regional Arab media.<br /><br />Turning to other matters, the general discredited a recent news report that<br />accuses the U.S. military of continued incidences of torture and abuse of<br />detainees in Iraq.<br /><br />"Coalition forces soundly deny the allegations," Kimmitt declared. The story,<br />he said, "was built upon anonymous sources and any suggestion that torture is<br />used is false and offensive."<br /><br />All U.S. forces operating in Iraq "adhere to the Geneva Conventions in the<br />conduct of detention and interrogation operations," Kimmitt asserted.<br /><br />If violations of the Geneva Conventions occur, he noted, "They are<br />investigated, and, if necessary, prosecuted."<br /><br />Kimmitt cited the news story as a piece of "careless reporting" that<br />inappropriately revealed specific locations of military operations. The<br />disputed report, he added, "only serves to increase the threat our soldiers<br />face daily in Iraq."<br /><br />Kimmitt reported that U.S.-coalition forces in Iraq conducted 1,804 patrols, 13<br />offensive operations and 44 Air Force and Navy sorties, and captured 27 anti-<br />coalition suspects in the past 24 hours.<br /><br />And 454 detainees at Abu Ghraib prison were released today, the general noted.<br />Another 394 people, he said, are slated for release May 28.<br /><br />"Fallujah remains quiet," Kimmitt noted, without any cease-fire violations<br />since May 3. U.S.-coalition forces, he added, have turned over checkpoints in<br />northern Fallujah to Iraqi Civil Defense Corps troops.<br /><br />However, Kimmitt reported that heavy fighting occurred today between U.S.-<br />coalition forces and insurgent troops in Karbala, Najaf and Kufa.<br /><br />U.S. forces in Karbala faced insurgents' rocket-propelled-grenade fire during<br />fighting near some holy shrines, he said. AC-130 aircraft were called in to hit<br />back at the enemy with precision fire, he explained, in order to reduce the<br />risk of damage to nearby religious sites and other buildings.<br /><br />Also today, coalition forces killed the driver of a speeding vehicle that<br />attacked a coalition road checkpoint between Kufa and Karbala with small-arms<br />fire. Coalition fire, Kimmitt noted, disabled the vehicle. One passenger was<br />injured in the exchange, he added, and two people were detained.<br /><br />In other news, a U.S. Marine died May 20 in a vehicle accident in western Anbar<br />province, according to a coalition news release. The service member's death was<br />deemed caused by a nonhostile event, and the incident is under investigation.<br /><br />Another release reported that one American soldier and two Iraqis in Baghdad<br />were killed May 20 by an improvised explosive device.<br /><br />Related Site:<br />Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.cjtf7.com/]<br /><spacer type= vertical size=5><br /><br />Related Article:<br />Myers: 'The More the Iraqis<br />Can Do, the Better' [/news/May2004/n05212004_200405212.html]<br /><spacer type=vertical size=5>