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Shoe-Thrower Is Instant Hit on Arab Street

Demonstrators want journalist who took aim at Bush set free

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 15, 2008 11:10 AM CST

(Newser) – Thousands marched across Iraq today to demand the release of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the little-known Shiite journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush yesterday. Though Bush spent last night making shoe puns—I have my assailant’s “sole,” he quipped—Iraq’s government was less amused, charging al-Zaidi with insulting a visiting head of state, which carries a minimum 2-year sentence, the Times reports.

Saddam Hussein’s former lawyer says around 200 attorneys, including some Americans, have volunteered to defend al-Zaidi for free. “It was the least thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush,” he said. The TV station that employs al-Zaidi, meanwhile, demanded his release “in line with the democracy and freedom of expression that the American authorities promised the Iraqi people.”

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

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A shoe is raised during a protest today against the visit to Iraq of President George W. Bush in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City. (AP Photo)

A man beats with a shoe a mock poster of President George W. Bush, with "war criminal" written in Arabic during a protest in Najaf, Iraq, today. (AP Photo)

Um Sa'aad, a sister of Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi wails as she holds a shoe of her brother at his apartment in in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec.15, 2008. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A shoe is raised during a protest against the US President's visit in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Dec. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

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Raw video: Bush thinks fast. (reuters.com)

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This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq. - Muntazer al-Zaidi, as he threw his shoes at George W. Bush

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Shoe-Thrower Is Instant Hit on Arab Street