US troops kill Fallujah 'shoe-thrower'

An Iraqi man who witnesses said shouted abuse before throwing a shoe at a US army vehicle was shot dead on Wednesday in what the American military said was a suspected grenade attack. Residents told an AFP reporter in Fallujah that Ahmed Latif, 32, whom they said was mentally disturbed, insulted the soldiers as they patrolled in the center of the city, and then hurled a shoe at them. The US military told AFP that a convoy in Fallujah had been attacked with a suspected grenade. "Positive identification of the attacker was made, and US forces fired in self-defense wounding the attacker," the army said in a statement. "Local Iraqi police secured the scene and transported the wounded attacker to a local hospital for medical care," it added. Dr. Ali Hatam of Fallujah hospital confirmed that Latif died of gunshot wounds.