Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Intro: Muntazer al-Zaidi


Muntadhar al Zaidi (Arabic: منتظر الزيدي) (alternative spellings in the western media: Muthathar, Muntadar, or Muthathi - al Zaidi or al Zeidi) is a broadcast journalist who works as a correspondent for Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia TV. He first became internationally known for having been detained by "gangs" in Baghdad in 2007 and was also arrested twice by United States armed forces.

On December 14, 2008 Zaidi again drew international attention by throwing his shoes at George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad. As he threw the shoes, Al-Zaidi called Bush a "dog" and said "this is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."Two New York Times reporters described al-Zaidi as having been "embraced around the Arab world." Al-Zaidi found support from his employer,thousands of protesters in Iraq,people in Syria, a charity in Libya,and from "around 200 lawyers" including some U.S. citizens. Al-Zaidi's action was criticised by the Iraqi government.

Zaidi is 29 years old and remains unmarried. Zaidi graduated with a degree in Communication from Baghdad University. He is a Iraqi television journalist and lives within central Baghdad. He has been working as a correspondent for Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia TV since 2005. He first became internationally known for having been detained by "gangs" in Baghdad in 2007 and was also arrested twice by United States armed forces.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muntazer_al-Zaidi