Kurdistan press syndicate condemns attack on Bush

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The Kurdistan Press Syndicate on Monday condemned the attack by Muntadher al-Zaydi, the correspondent for al-Boghdadiya satellite channel, on U.S. President George W. Bush when Zaydi hurled his shoes at him. “We in the Kurdistan press syndicate denounce the uncivilized assault and deem it a far cry from manners and ethics of the press,” the syndicate chief, Firhad Awni, told IraqiNews.com. President Bush quickly ducked when a pair of shoes were hurled at him Sunday. “This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog,” Zaydi shouted in Arabic as he threw his shoe at Bush during a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The shoe narrowly missed the president’s head. The man, a correspondent for Al-Boghdadiya television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, then pulled off his other shoe and chucked it, yelling, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” Bush ducked again as al-Maliki put out his arm to block the shoe. Zaydi, a young man of no more than 30 years old, has worked for al-Boghdadiya since its establishment in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He had been kidnapped two years ago by unidentified gunmen while stepping out of his home in al-Bab al-Sharqi area, central Baghdad. A week later he was found lying on the ground near auto selling stores in al-Nahda square, Baghdad, at a late night hour. Zaydi is considered one of the journalists outspokenly criticizing the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. He had written several reports opposing the U.S. military presence in the country. To Iraqis, the incident represented a major insult to the U.S. president. AmR (S)/SR 1