Iraq, and the man who threw his shoes at President Bush

Muntadar Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush, was arrested in Baghdad yesterday. He arrived in Iraq from Beirut on Monday, and had planned to take part in today’s ‘day of rage’ demonstration against the Iraqi government.

The famous ‘shoe incident’ took place in December 2008, at a Baghdad news conference. “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog”, Al-Zaidi shouted as he hurled the shoes at Bush.

Al-Zaidi is a bit of a hero in the Arab world. Prior to the shoe incident he gained a reputation with his reports for al-Baghdadia television, on the poor and downtrodden victims of the conflict in Iraq. He also reported on atrocities committed by the US forces, who arrested Al-Zaidi on two occasions. Later, he was kidnapped by unknown assailants in Baghdad, beaten unconscious and then held captive for three days while he was questioned about his activities.

Al-Zaidi’s arrest for the shoe incident caused outrage amongst ordinary Iraqis…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7783608.stm

He spent nine months in jail and was tortured by Iraqi forces. On his release he fled to Lebanon, where he now works as news editor for Al-Tajdid satellite TV in Beirut.

So why was Al-Zaidi arrested yesterday? and why is there a ‘day of rage’ in Iraq? It’s because the American forces are leaving in place one of the worst regimes in the Middle East. In Iraq there’s government corruption, thousands of people held without trial, torture, extrajudicial executions; you know, the usual stuff. If interested you can find Amnesty’s latest report here…

Iraq – Amnesty International Report 2010

The flag of freedom has never really been raised above Iraq.

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