Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi gave departing US president George Bush a fond farewell as he addressed a press conference with Prime Minister Maliki in Bagdad on Saturday.
As the Iraqi leader called Bush a “a great friend for the Iraqi people, who helped us liberate our country” and Bush declared that ‘the work hasn’t been easy but it’s been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace”, al-Zaidi stood up and threw his shoes at Bush, accompanying with the first shoe a cry of “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog’and with the second he shouted ‘This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”
Al-Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was promptly wrestled to the ground by security and dragged away.
Bush, who managed to dodge the shoes, told reporters afterwards: “If you want the facts, it’s a size 10 shoe that he threw.”
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