A television correspondent, Muntadar al-zaidi, threw a shoe at the US president George Bush in a press conference at Baghad. The press conference was being addressed by Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
In the press conference, suddenly the assailant leaped up from his chair, took his shoe out and threw it on Bush who was 20 feet way from him. Bush, however dodged the attack. In Arabic the journalist called after, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
Muntadar al-zaidi, is a TV correspondent working for the Iraqi owned station, Al-Baghadadia which is situated in Cairo, Egypt. As soon as the incident occurred he was taken in custody by the security officials and is now under arrest.
President Bush however took the whole incident as a joke. He added ‘It’s a publicity stunt, just to gain attention. It’s just like when you go to a rally and you see people showing their middle fingers to get ‘noticed’. I didn’t even know the guy’.
Al-Baghadadia’s manager however had no clue as to why did Muntadar take an action which will are bound to have bad repercussions on his career and life. He hasn’t been able to reach Muntadar himself and talk to him. However, the station issued a request on the channel, addressed to the Iraqi government to spare Muntadar’s life, asking for the journalists world over to stand by them.
I know that such an extreme action on the part of a journalist has to be condemned, and the journalist punished but irrespective of what the world thinks, I feel that for a person like Bush, the cause of the deaths of millions of innocent people, I’d say that he just missed by what he deserved.
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