Iraqi press syndicate appeals to Talabani, Maliki to release Zaydi

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi journalists’ syndicate on Thursday appealed to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to release al-Baghdadia channel correspondent Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who was sentenced to three years in jail for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush. “While the syndicate respects the Iraqi judiciary’s decision and impartiality, it appeals for President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki to show a fatherly mercy to colleague Zaydi,” read a syndicate release received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Talabani and Maliki “are known for sublime and noble stands marked by pardon and tolerance. Hence, the syndicate hopes the president and prime minister should reconsider the imprisonment term and release Zaydi,” the syndicate added. “The Iraqi press syndicate wishes to see Iraqi prisons clear of any Iraqi journalists just like the case after the year 2003,” it noted. Iraq’s courts, earlier on Thursday (March 12), has sentenced Zaydi to a three-year imprisonment term for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President Bush in a press conference during his last visit to Iraq on December 12, 2008. AmR (P) 1