Shoe-thrower beaten in jail, says his brother
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 17, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US president has been beaten in custody, his brother says. As Iraqi officials deny any responsibility, hundreds of Iraqis again take to the streets and demand the release of the reporter
An Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in a fit of outrage was hit in the head with a rifle butt and had an arm broken in chaotic scenes when he was leapt on by Iraqi security officers, his brother said yesterday.
Meanwhile, hundreds took to the streets yesterday for a second day to demand the release of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who gained folk hero status when he hurled both his shoes at Bush during a news conference Sunday in Baghdad. The U.S. military said al-Zeidi was in the custody of the Iraqi military, but a spokesman for the Iraqi defense minister denied this and said he had no knowledge of al-Zeidi's condition.
TV reporter al-Zeidi, who called Bush a "dog" at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday, was in a hospital in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, his brother Maitham al-Zeidi said.
"All that we know is we were contacted yesterday by a person -- we know him -- and he told us that Muntazer was taken on Sunday to Ibn-Sina hospital," Maitham al-Zeidi said. "He was wounded in the head because he was hit by a rifle butt, and one of his arms was broken," he added, according to Reuters.
The brother declined to identify the source of the information and his comments could not be independently verified. Asked about the brother's remarks, various Iraqi officials denied having responsibility for the case.
Supreme insult
After calling Bush a dog, al-Zeidi threw his shoes at the U.S. president in an act of supreme insult. Bush had to duck to evade one of the shoes.
Al-Zeidi, whose family said he blamed Bush for the thousands of Iraqis who died after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and who has been hailed as a hero by many in the Arab world, was pounced on by security and dragged away struggling and screaming.
An Iraqi official said on Monday that the case was being referred to the courts. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told The Associated Press that al-Zeidi could face charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi prime minister, who was standing next to Bush when the shoes were thrown. The offense carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Many Iraqis, however, believe al-Zeidi was a hero for insulting an American president widely blamed for the chaos that has engulfed their country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. In Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, located north of Baghdad, an estimated 1,000 protesters carried banners and chanted slogans demanding al-Zeidi's release.
A couple of hundred more also protested yesterday in Nasiriyah, a Shiite city about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, and Fallujah, a Sunni area west of the capital.
In Baghdad, Noureddin al-Hiyali, a lawmaker of the main Sunni bloc, defended al-Zeidi's actions and said he believed the reporter was likely motivated by the invasion of Iraq, the "dismantling of the Iraqi goverment, destroying the infrastructure," - all events he blamed on Bush.
Meanwhile, hundreds took to the streets yesterday for a second day to demand the release of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who gained folk hero status when he hurled both his shoes at Bush during a news conference Sunday in Baghdad. The U.S. military said al-Zeidi was in the custody of the Iraqi military, but a spokesman for the Iraqi defense minister denied this and said he had no knowledge of al-Zeidi's condition.
TV reporter al-Zeidi, who called Bush a "dog" at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday, was in a hospital in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, his brother Maitham al-Zeidi said.
"All that we know is we were contacted yesterday by a person -- we know him -- and he told us that Muntazer was taken on Sunday to Ibn-Sina hospital," Maitham al-Zeidi said. "He was wounded in the head because he was hit by a rifle butt, and one of his arms was broken," he added, according to Reuters.
The brother declined to identify the source of the information and his comments could not be independently verified. Asked about the brother's remarks, various Iraqi officials denied having responsibility for the case.
Supreme insult
After calling Bush a dog, al-Zeidi threw his shoes at the U.S. president in an act of supreme insult. Bush had to duck to evade one of the shoes.
Al-Zeidi, whose family said he blamed Bush for the thousands of Iraqis who died after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and who has been hailed as a hero by many in the Arab world, was pounced on by security and dragged away struggling and screaming.
An Iraqi official said on Monday that the case was being referred to the courts. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told The Associated Press that al-Zeidi could face charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi prime minister, who was standing next to Bush when the shoes were thrown. The offense carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Many Iraqis, however, believe al-Zeidi was a hero for insulting an American president widely blamed for the chaos that has engulfed their country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. In Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, located north of Baghdad, an estimated 1,000 protesters carried banners and chanted slogans demanding al-Zeidi's release.
A couple of hundred more also protested yesterday in Nasiriyah, a Shiite city about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, and Fallujah, a Sunni area west of the capital.
In Baghdad, Noureddin al-Hiyali, a lawmaker of the main Sunni bloc, defended al-Zeidi's actions and said he believed the reporter was likely motivated by the invasion of Iraq, the "dismantling of the Iraqi goverment, destroying the infrastructure," - all events he blamed on Bush.