BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Iraqis have
taken to streets on Tuesday for second day to demand the release of an Iraqi
journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a news
conference two days ago.
A shoe is raised during a protest
against the U.S. President's visit in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City
in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Dec. 15, 2008.Thousands of Iraqis have taken to
streets on Tuesday for second day to demand the release of an Iraqi
journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a
news conference two days ago. (Photo:
CRIOnline.com) Photo Gallery>>>
Iraqis across the country hailed the journalist
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who worked for Cairo-based Baghdadia television, and praised
his act of throwing shoes at Bush as a heroic action.
In Iraq's northern city of Mosul, hundreds of
protestors gathered outside the building of the city university carrying banners
and chanted slogans, demanding release of the reporter anddescribing him as a
national hero.
In Nassriyah city, the capital of Dhi Qar province in
southern Iraq, dozens of people from local civil organizations of the Zaidiya
tribe, where the reporter's family belongs, demonstrated in central city and
also demanded the release of Zaidi.
Several more demonstrations have taken the streets in
other cities of Salahudin, Hilla and Fallujah.
Video frame grab of U.S. President
George W. Bush (L) ducking from a shoe during a news conference in Baghdad
December 14, 2008. An Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at Bush and called
him a "dog" in Arabic during a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Sunday. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
On Monday, thousands of supporters of radical Shiite
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied in the Sadr City neighborhood in eastern Baghdad,
where Zaidi's family live, burned American flags to protest against Bush and
demanded the release of Zaidi.
Abdul Kareem Khalaf, head of operation office in the
Interior Ministry, said that "an arrest warrant has been issued against Zaidi
for committing a misdemeanor for throwing his shoes on President Bush and he has
to get proper punishment."
"The shoe throwing was also an insult to Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki himself," Khalaf said.
Security personnel tackle a man who
threw a shoe at U.S. President George W. Bush during a joint statement
with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, December 14, 2008.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Also on Tuesday, the Union of Iraqi Lawyers announced
in a statement obtained by Xinhua, that it supports Zaidi and it is preparing a
group of lawyers for defending him if being prosecuted.
"Misdemeanor, according to the Iraqi law, could take
sentences ranging from three months to three years in prison, but for Zaidi it
could be easier than that because the court may consider Zaidi's act was
expressing his rejection for the U.S. soldiers crimes toIraqis," Ali al-Dulaimi,
a lawyer, told Xinhua.
Zaidi, 29, was immediately wrestled to the ground by
security guards on Sunday night after throwing his shoes on Bush and since then
he was being held by Iraqi security forces for interrogation and he was also
being tested for alcohol and drugs.
BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi reporter threw his
shoes at visiting U.S. President George W. Bush and called him a "dog" in Arabic
during a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on
Sunday.
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, reporter of Baghdadiya television
jumped and threw his two shoes one by one at the president, who ducked and thus
narrowly missed being struck, raising chaos in the hall in Baghdad's heavily
fortified green Zone. Full story
