Shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist released

BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities released Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who famously threw his shoes at then US president George W. Bush, from prison Tuesday.

Al-Baghdadia TV channel, al-Zaidi’s employer, has begun a massive celebration with traditional music and flowers to greet the journalist’s release.

Al-Zaidi had been scheduled to be released after serving nine months in prison Monday, but paperwork delayed his release, al-Baghdadia satellite channel reported.

The reporter was initially sentenced to three years in prison for hurling his shoes at Bush at a December news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, but that sentence was subsequently reduced to one year on appeal.

His sentence was subsequently further reduced to nine months for good behaviour.

After images of al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at Bush and screaming, “This is a farewell kiss from Iraqis, you dog” were beamed across the region, he became a hero in Iraq and across the Arab world.

Iraqis erected a giant statue of a golden shoe in his honour. Libyan leader Moammer al-Gadhafi said he would bestow his country’s highest honour, the Libyan Medal of Honour, on al-Zaidi. The emir of Qatar promised him a golden horse.