Iraq Detains Journalist Who Threw Shoes at US President
By VOA News
15 December 2008
The Iraqi government has detained the reporter who threw his shoes at U.S. President George Bush.
Iraqi officials in Baghdad Monday, condemned the act of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi and demanded an apology from his employer, al Baghdadiya television.
Al Baghdadiya in turn has called for the reporter's release. The network said that freeing al-Zaidi would be in line with what it called the "freedom of expression" the U.S. has promised all Iraqis.
Saddam Hussein's former chief lawyer told al Jazeera network that he would defend al-Zaidi in court.
Protesters in Baghdad's Sadr City district and the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf took to the streets today and demanded al-Zaidi's release.
The reporter's colleagues said al-Zaidi resented Mr. Bush and blamed him for the bloodshed in Iraq.
Al-Zaidi threw one shoe, then the other, at President Bush during a Baghdad news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday.
Mr. Bush ducked and the shoes sailed over his head.
Security officials took the reporter out of the room, as other Iraqi journalists apologized.
President Bush shrugged off the incident and said he never felt threatened.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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