What was he actually thinking when he hurled his pair of shoes at Bush? Did he intend to trigger an international storm? Sherine Bahaa tries to find out Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W Bush during a 14 December news conference, says he would do it again. Al-Zaidi, the 28- year-old journalist, had been kept in custody at a detention centre in Baghdad's high security Green Zone. Al-Zaidi hasn't been seen in public since his arrest, and a scheduled court date last week was cancelled, raising fear among his family members that he was tortured. Al-Zaidi was denied access to the outside world to see the reverberations his "heroic" deed triggered worldwide. His guards forced him to watch a television channel run by Sunni extremists loyal to Saddam Hussein. They told him it was the only outlet in the world applauding his act, the journalist's brother, Oday Al-Zaidi, said after being allowed to visit him on Sunday. "They told him that his tribe and his family reject him," Oday Al-Zaidi said. "This is the only channel that supports you," the guards told him referring to the Iraqi satellite television Al-Raee. "I met my brother for around an hour. He has been tortured while in detention for 36 hours continuously. He has been hit with iron rods and cables." "There is very severe bleeding in his eye, and he has bruises on his feet and nose, and he was tortured with electric shocks." According to his brother, Al-Zaidi was stripped to his underwear before being placed in a cell. "He told me he was sleeping on the floor of the cell when a very large man came in and dumped cold water on him and began hitting him with a thick cable," Oday Al-Zaidi said in a television interview. His jailers had periodically demanded that he state in a videotaped confession that he had been ordered to commit the act by enemies of Iraq. "After the torture and the cold-water shower, I told them to bring me a blank sheet of paper and I would sign it, and they could write whatever they wanted. I am ready to say I am a terrorist or whatever you want," Oday was reported as saying what he was told by his imprisoned brother. "Muntadhar said I will not apologise for what I did -- not now, not ever." The fact that he allegedly "confessed" to such nonsense adds considerable weight to his brother's allegations. What happened to Muntadhar doesn't bode well for Iraqi democracy which according to Bush facilitated for Muntadhar committing his act. But Bush is unlikely ever to escape the image of him ducking Al-Zaidi's shoes while standing side by side with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. The humiliating scene will doubtless be replayed whenever his Iraq record is reviewed. Interestingly though was the wide support for the detained journalist which went beyond religious, ethnic and class divisions in Iraq -- catapulting him to folk hero status. Demonstrations demanding the release of Al-Zaidi were held in the Iraqi Shia holy city of Najaf, and in the Sunni city of Tikrit. Among the stories flying about is one that an Egyptian man has offered his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Al-Zaidi. The woman in question is said to be delighted at the prospect. YouTube videos of the incident have been viewed at least five million times, and a hastily launched Internet game called "Sock and Awe", in which players try to knock out the president by throwing virtual shoes at him, was so popular that it crashed the website of its creators. There are several versions of the game, with titles such as "The Flying Babush" and "Bush's Boot Camp". One of them draws on the iconic film, The Matrix. In the game, Bush is ducking and dodging in a long black coat. In another his face turns purple when a direct hit is scored. But now, what is the fate of Muntadhar? Al-Zaidi is being tried for insulting and attempting to assault a foreign leader. He could face several years in jail for insulting a visiting head of state. If there are proper legal proceedings, Saddam Hussein's former lawyer, Khalil Al-Dulaimi, has offered to defend him. "Our defence will be based on the fact that the US is occupying Iraq, and resistance is legitimate by all means, including hurling shoes at Bush," Al-Dulaimi explained.
