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Thousands of Iraqis have demonstrated in Baghdad's Sadr City in support of a journalist being held in custody after throwing his shoes at George Bush, the US president.

Muntazer al-Zeidi was detained for what the Iraqi government on Monday said was a "barbaric and ignominious act" during a news conference the previous day.

The outgoing US leader, who was making a surprise visit to Baghdad, had just told reporters that while the war in Iraq was not over "it is decisively on its way to being won," when al-Zeidi got to his feet and hurled abuse - and his footwear - at Bush.

Bush, who had been giving a joint press statement with Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, ducked behind a podium as the shoes narrowly missed his head.

"Millions of Iraqis or rather millions of the people of the world wish to do what Muntadhar did," Uday al-Zeidi, Mundathar's brother, said on Monday.
In Video

Bush caught in shoe attack

"Thank God he had the guts to do it and avenge the Iraqi people and the country from those who plunder it and have killed its people."

Al-Baghdadiya television, his employer, has demanded his release after Yasin Majeed, the prime minister's media adviser, said al-Zeidi would be tried on charges of insulting the state.

An Iraqi lawyer told the AFP news agency that Zeidi risked a miminum of two years in prison if he is prosecuted for insulting a visiting head of state.

Freedom of expression


On Monday, al-Baghdadiya suspended its normal programming and played messages of support from across the Arab world.

A presenter read out a statement calling for his release, "in accordance with the democratic era and the freedom of expression that Iraqis were promised by US authorities".

Iraqis have hailed
Zeidi's actions [AFP]
It said that any harsh measures taken against the reporter would be reminders of the "dictatorial era" that Washington said its forces had invaded Iraq to end.

Demonstrations also took place in the southern city of Basra and Najaf, where some people threw shoes at a US convoy.

Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam Hussein's former lawyer, said he was forming a team to defend al-Zeidi and that around 200 lawyers, including Americans, had offered their services for free.

"It was the least thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush, the tyrant criminal who has killed two million people in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

"Our defence of Zeidi will be based on the fact that the United States is occupying Iraq, and resistance is legitimate by all means, including shoes."

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt and the incident is likely to serve as a lasting reminder of the widespread opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq - the conflict which has come to define Bush's presidency.

"Throwing the shoes at Bush was the best goodbye kiss ever ... it expresses how Iraqis and other Arabs hate Bush," Musa Barhoumeh, editor of Jordan's independent Al-Gahd newspaper, wrote.

But support has not been entirely universal and some Iraqis believe al-Zeidi crossed the line.

"I deem it unnecessary. This thing is unjustifiable. It is an incorrect style. We are not violent. One can voice his opinion in other ways," one Baghdad resident said.

Robert Wood, a US state department spokesman, dismissed the incident saying that al-Zeidi was "trying to get attention for himself" and had ignored Washington's successes in Iraq.

"This was one incident and one individual's views, but if you look at the direction we are heading in Iraq now, it's a very, very positive direction and we hope to see that continue," he said.

Bush's visit to the Iraqi capital came just 37 days before he hands the presidency over to Barack Obama, who has vowed to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Shoe attack mars Bush's Iraq visit

The shoe-throwing incident happened as Bush discussed falling levels of violence in Iraq [AP]

George Bush, the US president, has had a pair of shoes hurled at him at a press conference during his last surprise visit to Iraq before leaving office in January.

An Iraqi reporter called Bush "a dog" and shouted out "this is the end" at Sunday's news conference in Baghdad, before throwing his shoes at the US leader.

Bush, who had been giving a joint press statement with Nuri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, ducked behind a podium as the shoes narrowly missed his head.

He was reported to be unhurt after the attack by Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadiya television, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The outgoing US leader had just told reporters that while the war in Iraq was not over "it is decisively on its way to being won," when al-Zeidi got to his feet and hurled abuse - and his footwear - at the US president.

Sign of contempt

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt.

In Video

Bush caught in shoe attack

The incident will serve as a vivid reminder of the widespread opposition to the US-led invasion of, and subsequent war in, Iraq - the conflict which has come to define Bush's presidency.

Bush shrugged off the incident and quipped: "All I can report is that it's a size 10."

Adil Shamoo, an Iraqi analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera: "I think we should go beyond the shoe and think about the fact that the US should respect Iraq's sovereignty in order to regain respect of the Iraqi people and the Arab world.

"I think Bush has increased terrorism against the United States and instablity in the Middle East because of his policies."

The US president was in Baghad for unannounced talks on the pact between Iraq and Washington that will see American troops leave Iraq by 2011.

Al-Maliki applauded security gains in Iraq and said that two years ago "such an agreement seemed impossible".

Bush's visit to the Iraqi capital came just 37 days before he hands the presidency over to Barak Obama, who has vowed to withdraw troops from Iraq.

article source http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/2008121419453773379.html

President Bush's hopes for a triumphant last visit to Iraq were thwarted Sunday by a shoe-throwing, epithet-yelling Arab journalist, whose angry gesture showed the same contempt for the American president that Iraqis displayed for dictator Saddam Hussein more than five years ago.

Mr. Bush intended his final trip to Iraq to symbolize gains in the country that he and his backers increasingly feel vindicate him on the issue that has defined his presidency and served as the basis for much of the criticism against him.

Instead, the trip took a left turn into the absurd, as an Arab TV journalist stood and hurled his shoes at the president during a press conference, while also shouting curses at him in Arabic.

See related story: Bush concludes Iraq-Afghan farewell tour

"This is a gift from the Iraqis, this is the farewell kiss, you dog," yelled Muntazer al-Zaidi, from the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia channel, as he threw his first shoe at Mr. Bush from roughly 10 feet away.

The president ducked and narrowly avoided being hit by the shoe, only to see Mr. al-Zaidi winding up to throw his second shoe.

"This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," Mr. al-Zaidi yelled before being tackled by security guards and hustled from the room, according to wire service reports.

Throwing shoes is an act of extreme disrespect in the Middle East. When U.S. troops and Iraqis pulled down a statue of dictator Saddam Hussein during the initial U.S. invasion of 2003, a group of Iraqis hit the statue's head and face with their shoes.

After Mr. al-Zaidi had been restrained, a few Iraqi journalists stood to apologize to Mr. Bush, according to reports from the scene.

"Thanks for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me," Mr. Bush said, and then cracked a joke that lightened the tense atmosphere in the room.

"If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw," he said.

Mr. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki then continued with the press conference, although instead of taking two questions each they both took only one.

In response to a U.S. reporter's question about the shoe incident, Mr. Bush said he "didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."

Mr. Bush's surprise trip to Iraq was the fourth of his presidency, intended to show the increased stability of the country where his legacy likely will sink or swim in the years to come.

Mr. Bush departed under cloak of darkness Saturday night, taking with him staff and a small group of reporters who were told of the trip a mere 24 hours in advance and allowed to inform only a spouse and a superior, according to a pool report sent from Baghdad.

Air Force One arrived in Baghdad around 4 p.m. local time, eight hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, after a nearly 11-hour flight.

After the press conference the president then spoke to hundreds of cheering U.S. troops at the Al Faw palace inside the Green Zone.

He said his decision early in 2007 to "surge" 30,000 additional troops into Iraq at a time when the country was fast spiraling out of control, was "one of the greatest successes in the history of the United State military."

In an unprecedented move, the president was driven through the streets of Baghdad in an unmarked motorcade, the first time that he has been outside of military bases or the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, the White House said.

Artical Source http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/15/bush-visits-iraq-dodges-flying-shoes/

"This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog," Muntadar al-Zeidi shouted in Arabic as he threw his shoe at Bush during a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The shoe narrowly missed the president's head.

The man, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, then pulled off his other shoe and chucked it, yelling, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Bush ducked again as al-Maliki put out his arm to block the shoe.

Secret Service and Iraqi security agents pounced on al-Zeidi. They wrestled him to the ground before dragging him from the room.

An Iraqi government official says al-Zeidi is being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs.

The official tells The Associated Press that Muntadar al-Zeidi is being interrogated over whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush.

Video showed a Secret Service agent rushing to the podium to move him out of harm's way, but Bush motioned to him that it was OK. The agent backed away.

Bush brushed off the incident. "It's like going to a political rally and have people yell at you. It's a way for people to draw attention," the president said.

To Iraqis, the incident represented a major insult to the U.S. president.

"In traditional Middle Eastern societies, it's very rude to show someone the bottom of your feet. Throwing a shoe at someone is very much a way of saying, 'You're beneath me. … I hold you in contempt,' " says Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy.

The president described the incident as a "bizarre moment" and compared it to the disruption of his White House news conference with President Hu Jintao of China by a Falun Gong follower. He said it would be wrong to extrapolate from the single instance the feelings of the entire country.

"I don't think you can take one guy and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq," he said while on a flight to Afghanistan after his departure from Baghdad on Sunday night. "The war is not over," Bush said, but "it is decisively on its way to being won."

He said the other Iraqi journalists in the room "were very apologetic and said this doesn't represent the Iraqi people."

Nearly 150,000 U.S. servicemembers remain in Iraq, protecting the fragile democracy. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died.

Al-Maliki, who spoke before the shoe incident, praised progress: "Today, Iraq is moving forward in every field."

Bush joked about the incident following his departure from Baghdad while en route to Afghanistan for a rally with U.S. and foreign troops. "I didn't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole," he said.

Bush told reporters he is normally pretty good at ducking at a news conference, as in ducking questions.

A reporter for CBS Radio responded, "So you aren't a lame duck," which prompted laughter.

Iraqis famously slapped their shoes on a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square here shortly after the city fell to coalition troops in April 2003.

In 2004, after four American contractors were ambushed and killed in Fallujah, insurgents hanged two corpses from a bridge as people flailed at them with shoes.

The president's father also had been the target of Iraqi disrespect. After the Persian Gulf War, Saddam installed a tile mosaic floor depicting George H.W. Bush in the lobby of Baghdad's Al-Rashid Hotel. Western diplomats, businessmen and journalists had no choice but to walk over the 41st president's image.

U.S. soldiers have since removed the mosaic from the hotel in the Green Zone. They still use the Al-Rashid.

Contributing: Peter Eisler in McLean, Va., and the Associated Press

KABUL (AFP) — It will likely rank as one of the more bizarre episodes of his presidency -- George W. Bush, surely one of the most protected leaders in history, ducking as two size 10 shoes hurtled in his direction.

The US president laughed off the incident during a surprise visit to Iraq, although it highlighted the lingering hostility still felt toward the man who ordered the 2003 invasion of the country.

"I didn't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole," Bush quipped later, not the first -- and he won't be the last -- to rack up a shoe pun.

The footwear belonged to an Iraqi television journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi, who jumped up as Bush was holding a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"It is the farewell kiss, you dog!" he shouted, and threw the shoes before being wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched out.

Bush lowered his head and the first shoe hit the American and Iraqi flags behind the two leaders. The second was off target.

Television footage of the incident quickly went round the world.

Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture -- after Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in Baghdad in April 2003, many people beat its face with their soles.

"It doesn't bother me," Bush said of the incident. "If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw."

He later played down the incident. "I don't know what the guy's cause is... I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."

The US leader then flew to Afghanistan, telling reporters en route that it reminded him of an incident in April 2006, when a heckler from the Falungong spiritual movement interrupted a formal arrival ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao in the grounds of the White House.

"Look, I mean it was just a bizarre moment," Bush said, "but I've had other bizarre moments in the presidency.

"I remember when Hu Jintao was here. Remember we had the big event?

"He's speaking, and all of a sudden I hear this noise, had no earthly idea what was taking place, but it was the Falungong woman screaming at the top of her lungs. It was kind of an odd moment."

So when the president landed in Kabul for talks and a news conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, the buzz among reporters was whether more footwear would fly.

It didn't.

One Afghan reporter jokingly urged a television colleague to follow suit -- "Why don't you do it here? Come on, do it."

Many journalists however had not heard or seen of the incident just a few hours earlier.

And while security is always tight at Karzai's palace, where visitors have to undergo a number of checks, no one's shoes were examined this time.

Meanwhile Al-Baghdadia, the television channel that employs Zaidi, urged authorities to release him immediately "in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people."

In Cairo, programming director Muzhir al-Khafaji described Zaidi as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man."

"We fear for his safety," he added.

Bush, who has strongly defended the 2003 invasion that triggered years of deadly insurgency and sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,200 US troops, rejected suggestions Zaidi represented the Iraqi people as a whole.

"I don't think you can take one guy throwing shoes and say, this represents a broad movement in Iraq," he added.

"I don't think it would be accurate."

A journalist in Iraq sent his shoes flying on Bush and through this act he could show his unhappiness for the invasion on Iraq in which thousands of people had been killed without any fault lying on their part. The people had been having some problems with their ruler, but they were competent people to solve that problems and there was no need for an other country to invade their country and kill them just to throughout the rulers.

Invading other countries had been accepted in the past, but today when freedom and democracy are the orders of the day, people are competent to solve their own problems. Saddam was acceptable to the people of Iraq or they had got some differences with him was a question in Iraq and the people were struggling against the ruler. At no stage they had invited others to come and help them out. The invasion on Iraq was un-invited and the people who invaded and killed thousands innocent people are not accepted by the people and they shall never forgive and pardon these invaders. We have seen that the people of Iraq, through a journalist have shown their resentment and that fellow had thrown his shoes on Bush and thus expressed the thoughts of Iraqi people.

We must note that people of the world would not like this present system of imposing an indirect imperialism on any country and the big powers who have adopted this method must think over this and this incidence of throwing shoes on Bush should not be taken lightly and they should stop invading other countries just to show their power. People of each country should be allowed to solve their own problems through their own efforts.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/men's-issues-articles/flying-shoes-at-bush-687889.html