Bush shoe attacker to face court

The trial of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi man who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush, will start on December 31, the judge investigating his case says.

Zaidi could face up to 15 years in jail.

"The investigation phase is over and the case has been transferred to the Central Criminal Court," investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani told AFP on Monday.

"The trial will start on Wednesday, December 31."

The journalist stands accused of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit," an offence that carries a prison term of between five and 15 years under Iraqi law.

But the court could convict him of the lesser charge of an "attempted aggression" which carries a prison term of one to five years.

His lawyer had asked that the case against Zaidi be transferred from the central criminal court, which handles terrorism cases, to an ordinary tribunal but the judge refused.

Zaidi, 29, became a hero to many when he threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world.

The journalist for private Iraqi television station Al-Baghdadia was wrestled to the ground by security guards and is planning to sue over injuries caused, his lawyer Dhiya al-Saadi said on Sunday.

"There are bruises on his body. He has lost a tooth in his upper jaw, and his left eye is bloodshot," the lawyer said, adding that the list of injuries is backed up by medical checks.

Zaidi's actions were hailed by many in the Arab world who considered it an ideal parting gift to a deeply unpopular Bush, who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq that triggered years of deadly insurgency and sectarian conflict.

His family has been demonstrating in a park near the central Baghdad government compound to demand his release from custody.

ninemsn 22 Dec 2008

One of the GREATEST COMEDIES of Modern Times is the Bush Administration, at the expense of the Liberties of Americans, later the Western World.

There was NO CRAZED GUNMAN as with John Fitzgerald Kennedy or Abraham Lincoln, just a Muppet throwing a shoe.

Bush, and his Nazi supporting grandfather, have committed more crimes against humanity than JFK or Abe, but there has been no 'retard' to assassinate him.

One of the reasons JFK was assassinated was because the wanted to bring back the "GREEN BACK", something the financiers could NOT let happen.