May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi police in the northern city of Mosul today denied U.S. government assertions that they detained Nick Berg before the 26-year-old American was kidnapped and beheaded, the Associated Press reported.

Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, yesterday said Berg entered Iraq from Jordan, and was arrested by Iraqi police near Mosul on March 24. He was visited by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents three times before his release April 6, Senor said.

``The Iraqi police never arrested the slain American,'' AP cited Mosul's police chief, Major General Mohammed Khair al- Barhawi, as saying. ``Such reports are baseless.''

Berg was held for his own protection after displaying unusual behavior, AP said, citing an unidentified U.S. official. Berg's parents, who accused the U.S. of holding him illegally and delaying his planned departure, said he was in Iraq to find work on communications towers. Video of his killing by five masked men was posted on an Islamic Web site that said he was killed by an al- Qaeda-linked group to avenge U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

(Associated Press, 5-13)

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Last Updated: May 13, 2004 07:00 EDT