This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7988035.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Iraq shoe thrower's jail term cut | Iraq shoe thrower's jail term cut |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former US President George W Bush has had his sentence cut from three years to one year on appeal. | The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former US President George W Bush has had his sentence cut from three years to one year on appeal. |
| Muntadar al-Zaidi's lawyer argued that the sentence should be changed from assault to insulting a foreign leader. | |
| The judge agreed and reduced the term in line with the less serious offence. | |
| An official for the court said the presiding judge had also taken into account the fact that Zaidi had no prior criminal history. | An official for the court said the presiding judge had also taken into account the fact that Zaidi had no prior criminal history. |
| Shoe hurling is a grave insult in Arab culture, but Mr Bush - who was on a farewell trip to Iraq at the time - shrugged off the attack. | |
| Footage of the shoe hurling incident | |
| It happened in mid-December 2008 during a news conference Mr Bush was holding with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. | |
| Zaidi, of al-Baghdadiya TV, called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his shoes as a "farewell kiss" from Iraqis who had been killed, orphaned or widowed since the US-led invasion. | |
| He was overpowered and arrested and his actions were condemned by the Iraqi government as "shameful". | |
| But the shoe attack, at a globally televised news conference, was celebrated across the world by critics of the outgoing US president, who ordered the 2003 invasion of the Iraq. | |
| An opinion poll carried out for the BBC and ABC - the full results of which appear next Monday - suggested 62% of the Iraqis polled considered Zaidi a "hero". | |
| Twenty-four percent of the sample said they viewed him as "criminal", while 10% thought he was a hero and criminal equally. |