Al-Zaidi is a hero to some, but not all, writes Saif Nasrawi Unlike the overwhelming Arabs' celebration of an Iraqi television reporter who flung his shoes at US President George W Bush during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraqi responses reflected the polarising American presence in Iraq. Iraqi television reporter Muntadhar Al-Zaidi is somewhere between a hero and an outcast after he threw his shoes at Bush during his farewell visit to Baghdad Sunday. The politics of the shoe-hurling incident revealed how various Iraqis have come to perceive the consequences of the 2003 US invasion of their country, and how they perceive they could employ it to fulfil future goals domestically and regionally. For many Iraqis, throwing shoes at a visiting foreign president wouldn't be even imaginable under the former Saddam Hussein regime as the perpetrator would be immediately shot, or at best detained to be tortured in custody. Maytham Al-Zaidi, Muntadhar's youngest brother, said his family was not worried about Muntadhar's safety after the incident. "If my brother threw his shoes during Saddam Hussein's reign, my entire family would be dragged to jail, but in this democratic and free era we feel secured," Maytham told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Wednesday. "Muntadhar Al-Zaidi appeared before an investigating judge Tuesday in the presence of a defence lawyer and a prosecutor," said Abdel-Sattar Birqadr, spokesman for Iraq's Higher Judicial Council. "He admits the action he carried out." Later, a criminal court judge will decide whether there is sufficient cause to try Al-Zaidi. Iraqi criminal lawyers say there are several possible charges he could face, including initiating an aggressive act against the head of a foreign state on an official visit, with a potential punishment of seven years in prison. A less-severe charge -- insulting the leader of a foreign nation -- carries a sentence of up to two years in prison or a fine of 200 Iraqi dinars, less than half a US dollar. A third possible charge, simple aggression, is punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine. Various Iraqi political groups received the shoe hurling -- a sign of supreme contempt in Arab culture -- in different and even contradictory ways. Al-Furat website, the mouthpiece of the Supreme Islamic Council, denounced the incident Monday as "childish and unprofessional". Aside from the embarrassment, the largest Shia party in the government fears that the symbolism of the shoe hurling could spark further controversy about the recently signed US-Iraqi security agreement that legalises the presence of US troops in Iraq beyond their UN mandate that expires at the end of this month. Anti-American Shia forces, on the other hand, exploited the event for further mobilisation ahead of upcoming local elections next month. Tuesday saw a second day of rallies being held across Iraq hailing Al-Zaidi as a hero and calling for his release. The Sadrist movement was the driving force behind these rallies in central and southern Iraq. Followers of the Shia movement, infamous of its anti-American stance, demanded that Al-Zaidi be released and described the shoe throwing as an "expression of how Iraqis felt humiliation during the American occupation". Sadrists know very well that capitalising on long standing Iraqi anger at American atrocities in Iraq would signal them as the champions of Iraqi nationalism, a position that will benefit them in the local elections, a defining moment where the balance of power in the Shia community will be determined. Interestingly, fewer support rallies of Al-Zaidi were organised in Sunni areas that used to be the main battleground against US troops. With the exception of the Association of Muslim Scholars, an ardent opponent of Washington and its Iraqi allies, which issued a strong denouncement of Al-Zaidi's arrest and detention, no major Sunni group spoke out. The reluctance of traditional Sunni factions to celebrate the shoe hurling incident could be attributed to growing fears that a possible US withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011, as stipulated by the US-Iraqi agreement, might trigger an expansionist drive by the largely Shia- dominated government that controls the police and armed forces. Also, leaders of the Awakening Councils, the nearly 103,000 Sunni tribal fighters and former insurgents, have not expressed joy at Al-Zaidi's shoe hurling. Those leaders feel that they are now dependent on the US to secure their financial position vis-à-vis the government, and their anticipated participation in the upcoming local elections. Kurdish leaders abstained from publicly condemning the incident. However, the majority of Kurdish media outlets mocked the shoe thrower. Head of the Kurdish Press Union, Ferhad Awni, described Monday the incident as "unethical and uncivilised". Kurds who announced their willingness to host future US military bases in Iraq have been growing more suspicious of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's attempts to reconsider the federal system in Iraq. Strong political and economic ties with Washington are pivotal in the Kurds' strategy to safeguard their autonomy in northern Iraq.
