Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was recently released from an Iraqi prison after serving nine months for throwing his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush, has been greeted with a heroes welcome in Geneva Switzerland.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi gained worldwide notoriety for his December 2008 attack on the former president, earning the journalist a stint behind bars, where he claims he was brutally tortured by his captors. al-Zeidi refers to himself as a “victim of the occupation’ and alleges abuse during his detention. He insists however, he was not abused at the hand of Americans.
The Iraqi journalist is quick however, to condemn the United States for it’s roll in what he claims are the deaths of over a million Iraqis since the U.S. invasion began six and a half years ago. Iraq Body Count estimates approximately 100,00 Iraqis have died violently since the invasion began, but these numbers are considered by most experts to be somewhat lower than the actual count. In addition to the astounding number of deaths, another five million Iraqis have been left without homes. Over two million of these Iraqi refugees are currently living in nearby Syria and Jordan.
Al-Zeidi says he has been offered generous gifts and large sums of money by un-named wealthy Arabs, but has pledged not to accept any such offers until he is able to set up a foundation enabling the funds to be used to assist Iraqis who have suffered as a result of the war.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi will be remembered by most observers for throwing his shoes at then-president George W. Bush during a press conference in Bagdad on December 14, 2008. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but was ultimately released three months early for good behavior.
