Bush shoe attacker 'severely beaten', family claim

The family of a journalist jailed for throwing his shoes at US President George Bush today claimed a delay in bringing him before a court meant he had been too severely beaten to appear in public.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi had been expected to appear today 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 cell in Baghdad 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 al-Zeidi suffered severe injuries when he was wrestled to the floor after throwing the shoes during a news conference by President 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 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 US-Iraq security agreement that parliament approved last month.

The deal allows US troops to remain in Iraq until 2012.

Today al-Sadr’s supporters in parliament interrupted a session called to review a resolution calling for all non-US 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 an 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 honour in leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.”

Even if he follows through, his departure would not effect the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri 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.

Thousands have demonstrated in the days since al-Zeidi’s arrest, heralding his actions and calling for his release.

About 1,500 demonstrators took to the streets today in the Baghdad Sunni neighbourhood of Azamiyah to demand his release.