Iraqi reporter throws shoes at Bush

US to continue its Iraq policy

Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer, on Monday offered to defend the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush who came to Iraq on a farewell visit.

Iraqi protesters march in the streets of Najaf on Dec. 15, demanding the release of an Egyptian TV journalist who threw shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a visit to Baghdad. [Sina.com]

The lawyer said in Jordan's capital of Amman that he made the decision on Sunday night soon after the incident and he now seeks to form a lawyer team to defend for the journalist.

The journalist should be released, stressed Dulaimi.

At a news conference Bush held on Sunday in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, reporter of Baghdadiya television, jumped and threw his two shoes one by one at Bush and called him a "dog" in Arabic.

Bush ducked and narrowly missed being struck, but the journalist was wrestled by several security members to the floor and then dragged out of the hall as he was screaming.

Bush arrived Baghdad earlier on Sunday in an unannounced visit, just 36 days before he leaves office in January.