‘Shoe Intifada’ grows

Judge to probe reporter’s injuries

Baghdad —- A judge announced a probe Friday into the beating and bruising of an Iraqi journalist’s face moments after he hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush, and said investigators destroyed the shoes in their search for explosives.

The statement by Dhia al-Kinani, the investigating judge, was the first official word that Muntadhar al-Zeidi was hurt after his outburst at a news conference by Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

According to the judge, al-Zeidi suffered a bruised face and eyes.

Al-Zeidi has been in custody since the Sunday attack and hasn’t been seen since by relatives or a lawyer.

His brother, Uday, said that’s “clear evidence that Muntadhar was under intense torture.”

Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground seconds after throwing his shoes, and the judge said videotape of the scuffle would be studied carefully.

The judge said the investigation would be completed and sent to the criminal court on Sunday, after which a court date would be set within seven to 10 days.

He also said investigators destroyed the shoes trying to determine if they contained explosives. He did not say whether they found any.

AROUND THE WORLD

> A Saudi reportedly offered $10 million for just one of the shoes thrown by Muntadhar al-Zeidi.

> In Iran, hard-line Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati praised the act at Friday prayers, calling it the “Shoe Intifada.” Jannati proposed people in Iraq and Iran should carry shoes in further anti-American demonstrations. “This should be a role model,” he said.

> Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated again Friday for Muntadhar al-Zeidi’s release. In Baghdad’s Shiite stronghold Sadr City, protesters laid down two American flags, hit them with shoes and burned them to protest his detention.

> In the southern Iraq city of Kufa, hundreds raised shoes in support of al-Zeidi and also protested what they said was the arrest by American forces of an official of Momahoudin, a militia led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that was disbanded and turned into a social welfare group. The U.S. military would not comment on the alleged arrest.

> In London, about 50 protesters shook their shoes at the U.S. Embassy in a show of support for al-Zeidi sponsored by Britain’s Stop The War Coalition.

> In the West Bank village of Bilin, Palestinians hurled shoes rather than the usual rocks at Israeli soldiers in the weekly Friday protest against the Israeli separation barrier, which slices through their fields.

Shoe thrower’s reward? Offer of a bride

The head of a large West Bank family wants to reward the Iraqi journalist who lobbed his shoes at President Bush by sending him a bride. Ahmad Salim Judeh says if journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi is interested, the family is willing to send one of their daughters to Iraq along with her dowry. The 75-year-old Judeh says doing so “would be our honor.” He also said that the 500-member clan had raised $30,000 for al-Zeidi’s legal defense. Al-Zeidi is unmarried.