Iraqi shoe-thrower sentenced to three years for 'assault' on Bush

An Iraqi reporter acclaimed as a hero across much of the Middle East after he threw his shoes at President Bush was sentenced in Baghdad to three years in prison yesterday.

"What I did was a natural response to the occupation," said Muntadhar al-Zaidi to the three-judge panel. As the sentence was read out he shouted "Long live Iraq" while others in the courtroom were removed by police for yelling "Down with Bush".

Mr Zaidi pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assault Mr Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on 14 December, saying he had not pre-planned his action.

Related articles

• Leading article: Foot soldier
• Search the news archive for more stories

He said at an earlier hearing he had suddenly decided to throw his shoes when he saw Mr Bush smile during the press conference because it made him think of "the killing of more than a million Iraqis, the disrespect for the sanctity of the mosques and houses, and the rapes of women."

Throwing shoes is a traditional way of showing hatred and contempt in Iraq but Mr Zaidi's action, shown on television around the world, was soon copied in other countries.

But no other shoe-thrower has so far shown the same accuracy as Mr Zaidi – who only failed to hit Mr Bush because the former US president ducked just in time.

Mr Zaidi, 30, was a television reporter working for al-Baghdadiyah television when the incident took place, prompting spontaneous demonstrations of support in both Shia and Sunni districts across Iraq, as well as in many other parts of the Muslim world. One man was said to have offered $10m for the shoes. A large statue of a shoe was also erected in the Sunni city of Tikrit, though Mr Zaidi comes from the Shia bastion of Sadr City in Baghdad.

The acclaim he received shows the appeal of nationalism to many Iraqis.

His brother Dirgham said Mr Zaidi hates both "the American material occupation" and "the Iranian moral occupation".

As he hurled his first shoe Mr Zaidi shouted: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people – dog."

Dhiaa al-Saadi, the head of Mr Zaidi's 18-member defence team, condemned the sentence as harsh and said an appeal would be launched.

"It was an act of throwing a shoe, not a rocket," he said. "It was meant as an insult to the occupation."

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was sitting beside Mr Bush at the press conference and tried to intercept one of the shoes midflight, described the incident as "barbaric".

Mr Zaidi's family say he was tortured by security police after his arrest in December.

The case had been delayed because Mr Zaidi's defence lawyers argued that as the incident took place in the Green Zone controlled by US troops, Mr Bush was not in Iraq proper.

The judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie declared Mr Bush's visit official, and said Mr Zaidi was liable to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. On hearing the verdict his sister Ruqaiya burst into tears and shouted: "Down with Maliki, the agent of the Americans."