Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi freed from jail

The Iraqi TV reporter who threw his shoes at George W Bush was finally released from jail today and insisted that he had acted to defend his country's honour. Muntazer al-Zaidi was released after serving nine months of a one-year sentence for assaulting a foreign head of state after throwing his size 10 shoes at Mr Bush during the outgoing President's final Baghdad press conference on December 14 last year.

The throwing of shoes is considered a grave insult in the Arab world and Mr al-Zaidi's action embarrassed Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, who was standing beside Mr Bush as he ducked the flying footwear. As he threw the shoes the reporter had shouted: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog."

Mr al-Zaidi, sporting a thick beard and wearing a sash in the colours of the Iraqi national flag around his shoulders, was unrepentant as he gave a press conference at the headquarters of his employer, the al-Baghdadia television station, after his release from jail today. "I believe what I did was right," he said. "This was against the war criminal George Bush. He destroyed my country and destroyed my nation and after six years he came to Baghdad, claiming victory and wanting to say goodby to his victims. "This is my flower to the occupation."

The reporter, now 30, was initially sentenced to three years but had his jail term reduced to one year on appeal. His sentence was cut further on account of his good behaviour. Mr al-Zaidi had been due to be released yesterday but his homecoming was delayed by legal red tape. His eldest brother, Uday, said today that he was finally released this morning and was waiting to collect his possessions. Uday said that his brother was expected to visit al-Baghdadia television, ae small Cairo-based station, before being reunited with the rest of his family.

Uday told The Times yesterday that prison doctors had repeatedly injected "unknown substances" into his brother during his spell in jail. He also alleged that the shoe-thrower was burnt with cigarettes and had his nose and ribs broken. He added that Mr al-Zaidi would be sent for "physical and pyschological treatment" in Greece to help him recover from his ordeal. After that he faces a life very different to the one he enjoyed before his anti-Bush protest.

Mr al-Zaidi’s boss has promised the reporter a new home as a reward for loyalty and the publicity that his actions, broadcast live across the world, generated for the station. There is also talk of plum job offers from bigger Arab networks, lavish gifts such as sports cars from businessmen, guaranteed celebrity status, and reports that Arab women from Baghdad to the Gaza Strip want to marry him.

Source: The Times