EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi shoe-thrower promises to boot corruption out of politics as MP

[TomSea]

EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi shoe-thrower promises to boot corruption out of politics as MP
Alex MacDonald

Muntazar al-Zaidi, journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, tells MEE how he plans to stamp out sectarianism as he runs for parliament

Muntazir al-Zaidi at a book fair in Turkey (Facebook)

"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!"

The line was heard around the world, as TV stations broadcast Muntazar al-Zaidi hurling his footwear at then-US President George Bush, who was giving a news conference alongside Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki.

The prime minister's guards soon apprehended him and he eventually spent nine months in jail, before leaving Iraq in 2009. But as a symbolic act of defiance against the US occupation of Iraq, which saw hundreds of thousands killed and the country plunged into corruption and ethno-religious chaos, the shoe-throwing incident made Zaidi famous worldwide.

Read more (and video) at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/zaidi-shoes-2084205026