Shoes Greet Bush's Farewell Iraq Visit
BAGHDAD — An Iraqi television journalist threw his shoes at visiting US President George W. Bush on Sunday, December 14, and called him a dog, the ultimate insult in the Arab culture.
"It is the farewell kiss, you dog," Muntazer al-Zaidi, a reporter for the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia television, shouted before throwing his shoes one after the other towards Bush, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).
Bush, who was holding a press conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his private office, was not hurt.
He ducked to avoid the first shoe which sailed over his head as he stood next to Maliki and smacked into the wall behind him.
The second shoe narrowly missed the visiting American leader.
Premier Maliki, who looked strained, made a protective gesture towards Bush.
Iraqi security officers and US secret service agents leapt at the reporter and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the room.
Friends said Zaidi covered the US bombing of Baghdad's Sadr City area earlier this year and had been "emotionally influenced" by the destruction he'd seen, according to McClatchy Newspapers.
