Date: 12/17/08

Iraqi Parliament in Turmoil Over Shoe Tosser

By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) Chaos erupted in Iraq's parliament Wednesday over the jailing of a reporter who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush, with lawmakers loyal to a radical anti-American cleric demanding his freedom. The parliament speaker responded by threatening to resign.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi had been expected to appear Wednesday before an investigative judge at Iraq's main court as a first step in a complex legal process that could end in a criminal trial. Instead, the judge visited him in his jail cell and the family was told to return to the court in eight days, according to the journalist's brother, Dhargham.

"That means my brother was severely beaten and they fear that his appearance could trigger anger at the court," he added.

Iraqi officials and another brother have denied that the journalist suffered severe injuries after he was wrestled to the floor after throwing the shoes during a news conference by Bush on Sunday.

He could face two years imprisonment if found guilty of insulting a foreign leader.

Al-Zeidi's bizarre act of defiance won the obscure television reporter hero status in Iraq and throughout the Arab world.

Followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as well as other Shiite and Sunni groups have staged demonstrations for the last three days demanding al-Zeidi's release.

The Sadrists, in particular, hope to exploit public sympathy over the shoe assault to regain political momentum they lost after their failure to stop the U.S.-Iraq security agreement that parliament approved last month. The deal allows U.S. troops to remain in Iraq until 2012.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr's supporters in parliament interrupted a session called to review a resolution calling for all non-U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of June.

Several Sadrist lawmakers demanded that the session address al-Zeidi's case and allegations that he had been beaten in custody. Other lawmakers shouted that the case was a matter for the courts, triggering a noisy argument, according to Wisam al-Zubaidi, an adviser to Khalid al-Attiyah, parliament's deputy speaker.

With legislators screaming at one another, speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, shouted: "There is no honor in leading this parliament and I announce my resignation."

Al-Mashhadani has a history of eccentric behavior and it was unclear whether the resignation was serious. Two years ago, the Shiite bloc ousted al-Mashhadani after a series of outbursts, but his fellow Sunnis forced them to reinstate him.

An official in the speaker's office confirmed al-Mashhadani's announcement but said he was uncertain whether it was serious. The official said the speaker may have been made the remark because he was upset. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Even if the speaker follows through, his departure would not effect the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The prime minister was said to have been furious and personally humiliated by the shoe-throwing incident, considering it a breach of Arab rules of hospitality.

In Washington, deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Wednesday the decision of what to do with al-Zeidi was up to the Iraqis.

"Iraq is a democracy, these types of things happen in a democracy," Wood said. "That situation is going to have to work itself through the Iraqi judicial process. It's an Iraqi matter, so it should be left for the Iraqis to deal with."

Nevertheless, the outburst in parliament reflects the passions stirred up by Sunday's incident across Iraq, where many people harbor conflicting views of the U.S. presence.

Iraqis are supposed to vote in a referendum next summer about whether to accept the U.S.-Iraq security deal, and the Sadrists hope to use the al-Zeidi case in their campaign against the agreement.

Many Iraqis cheered the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein and remain apprehensive about whether Iraq's squabbling politicians can hold the country together after the Americans leave by 2012.

But most Iraqis are also fed up with five years of what they consider foreign military occupation and the violence — which has been reduced but has not ended.

Clearly, however, al-Zeidi's action, which has been aired repeatedly on Arab satellite television stations, struck a nationalist chord among many Iraqis, who long to take full control of their own country.

Thousands have taken to the streets in the days since al-Zeidi's arrest, heralding his actions and calling for his release.

About 1,500 demonstrators took to the streets Wednesday in the Baghdad Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah to demand his release. Al-Zeidi was kidnapped in the same neighborhood last year and was freed unharmed a few days later.

"This is a natural reaction to the American acts of tyranny and occupation in Iraq," said demonstrator Khalil al-Obeidi, a resident of Azamiyah.

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Associated Press Writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.