Shoe thrower: I was tortured

Published on Tuesday 15 September 2009 22:03

HIS speech slurred because of a missing tooth, the Iraqi reporter who shot to global fame when he hurled his shoes at US president George Bush was released from prison yesterday, accusing the Iraqi guards who seized him of beating and electrocuting him.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, whose outburst during a news conference last December summed up the feelings of many Iraqis towards the former US leader, had been sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting a head of state, but his sentence was later reduced to one year.

"Today I am free again but my home is still a prison," he told reporters shortly after his release, a swipe at the continued US military presence in Iraq six and half years after the invasion.

Mr Zaidi said he was tortured after he was arrested in a room not far from where the news conference was held. He said guards beat him with cables and metal tubes and gave him electric shocks.

His employer, Al-Baghdadiya television, showed footage of Mr Zaidi arriving at its station surrounded by guards. He was wrapped in an Iraqi flag and wore black sunglasses.

"The occupation forces invaded us under the pretext of liberation. They divided brothers, neighbours, they made our houses endless funeral tents and our streets cemeteries," he said, referring to the sectarian slaughter unleashed by the invasion.

Millions of people across the world saw footage of Mr Zaidi throwing his shoes at Mr Bush and calling him a "dog", both grave insults in the Middle East.

"This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," he shouted. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

After images of the shoe-throwing were broadcast, many people worldwide applauded the journalist.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, called him courageous. A Libyan group led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's daughter gave him an award. Fathers from Arab countries offered their daughters as brides.

Under Iraqi law all prisoners sentenced to one year without previous convictions and who show good behaviour get out after serving three quarters of the sentence.

Mr Zaidi said he now feared for his life and believed that US intelligence agents would chase after him.

"The US intelligence service and its affiliated services will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary … in a bid to kill me," he said.

His brother Uday said: "When President Bush looks back and turns the pages of his life, he will see the shoes of Muntazer al-Zaidi on every page."

Outside his home in Baghdad, celebrations by family members erupted at the news of his release.

However, there was no wider outpouring of popular support for Mr Zaidi outside his home or the prison, possibly reflecting a cooling of passions after the American troop pullback from Iraq's cities and the arrival of President Barack Obama.