Man who Threw Shoe at Bush Runs for Iraqi parliament
A man who threw his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush during a farewell visit to Iraq in 2008 is now running for a seat in the parliament.
A man who threw his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush during a farewell visit to Iraq in 2008 is now running for a seat in the parliament.
Broadcaster Muntadhar al-Zaidi, 39, recently announced his campaign to run in the May 12 parliamentary elections and has even hinted at running for the presidency.
He made the announcement in a video shared online and it comes nearly 10 years after his infamous footwear attack on Bush, which included a verbal assault on the former president.
“This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog,” al-Zaidi yelled as he tossed the shoe before being pinned to the floor by security personnel. “You killed the Iraqis!”
According to ABC news, Guards tackled him to the ground, and Zaidi was sentenced to three years in prison. He ended up serving only nine months and then moved to Beirut.
Zaidi only recently returned to Iraq from Beirut and Europe, where he has lived since he was released from prison. At the time, he told reporters he had suffered beatings, whippings, electric shocks and simulated drownings. “I am free again, but my homeland is still a prison,” he said at the time.
This is the first Iraqi election since the Iraqi government announced last December that it has won the fight against the so-called Islamic State (ISIL) group
