Nick Berg Crossed Paths with al Qaida in 1999

In a bizarre coincidence, Nick Berg crossed paths with Al Qaeda years before its henchmen beheaded him, when his E-mail and password wound up in the hands of 9/11 suspect Zacarias Moussaoui.

It happened in 1999, when Berg was at the University of Oklahoma and Moussaoui was enrolled at a nearby flight school, allegedly training to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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After Moussaoui's role in the Al Qaeda suicide hijackings came under scrutiny, the FBI discovered he had Berg's university E-mail password.

"In 2002, the FBI was following millions of leads in the wake of 9/11, and one led to Mr. Berg," said a senior Justice Department official.

After questioning Berg about the tie, the feds concluded he had never actually met Moussaoui, who had friends and roommates at the same college.

The matter remained closed until Berg's fateful visit to Iraq this year.

When he was detained by authorities in Mosul in March, FBI agents came to grill Berg, and he volunteered details about his previous dealings with the bureau, the official said.

But the eerie link between Berg and the terrorist cabal that later decapitated him "turned out to be total coincidence," the official said.