Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi freed from jail
The Iraqi TV reporter who threw his shoes at George W Bush was finally released from jail today and insisted that he had acted to defend his country's honour.
Muntazer al-Zaidi was released after serving nine months of a one-year sentence for assaulting a foreign head of state after throwing his size 10 shoes at Mr Bush(dog) during the outgoing President's final Baghdad press conference on December 14 last year.
Muntazer al-Zaidi said "I believe what I did was right," he said. "This was against the war criminal George Bush. He destroyed my country and destroyed my nation and after six years he came to Baghdad, claiming victory and wanting to say goodby to his victims.
"This is my flower to the occupation."
Mr al-Zaidi’s boss has promised the reporter a new home as a reward for loyalty and the publicity that his actions, broadcast live across the world, generated for the station.
There is also talk of plum job offers from bigger Arab networks, lavish gifts such as sports cars from businessmen, guaranteed celebrity status, and reports that Arab women from Baghdad to the Gaza Strip want to marry him.
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