Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference. Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody. There were similar scenes in Najaf. Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, also called for the release of their journalist. Iraqi officials have described the incident as shameful. A statement released by the government said Mr Zaidi's actions, which also included him shouting insults at President Bush, "harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general". The government has demanded an on-air apology from his employer. An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush. He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Cairo-based TV channel said Mr Zaidi should be freed because he had been exercising freedom of expression -- something which the Americans had promised to Iraqis on the ousting of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "Any measures against Muntadar will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime," the firm said in a statement. Mr Zaidi leaped from his chair at the news conference and hurled first one shoe and then the other at Mr Bush, who was joined at the podium by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The shoes missed as Mr Bush ducked, and Mr Zaidi was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room. "This is a farewell kiss, you dog," he yelled in Arabic as he threw his shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." In Cairo, Muzhir al-Khafaji, programming director for al-Baghdadiya TV, described the journalist as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man". "We fear for his safety," he told the AFP news agency, adding that Mr Zaidi had been arrested twice before by the Americans. "We fear that our correspondents in Iraq will be arrested. We have 200 correspondents there," he added. "He has no ties with the former regime. His family was arrested under Saddam's regime."