Muntadhar al-Zaidi (Arabic: منتظر الزيدي, romanized: Muntaẓar az-Zaydī; born 15 January 1979)[a] is an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Baghdadia TV.
[3] On 14 December 2008, al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference while shouting, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog."
[11] On 12 March 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign head of state during an official visit.
[citation needed] Ahmed Alaa, a close friend and colleague of al-Zaidi at al-Baghdadia television (barred in Iraq 2014),[20] in a talk on Islam Online, refers to "One of [al-Zaidi's] best reports" "on Zahra, a young Iraqi school girl killed by the occupation forces while en route to school."
Alaa said al-Zaidi documented the tragedy in his reportage, complete with interviews with her family, neighbors and friends.
"[23] Sami Ramadani, a political exile from Saddam's regime and a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University, wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian that al-Zaidi "reported for al-Baghdadia on the poor and downtrodden victims of the US war.
He not only followed US Apache helicopters' trails of death and destruction, but he was also among the first to report every 'sectarian' atrocity and the bombing of popular market places.
"[2] The editor of Al-Baghdadia TV described the kidnapping as an "act of gangs, because all of Muntadhar's reports are moderate and unbiased.
[28] During a 14 December 2008 press conference at the prime minister's palace in Baghdad, Iraq, al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at then-United States president George W.
[29] "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe towards Bush.
Al-Zaidi was pulled to the floor[31] before being grabbed by the prime minister's guards, kicked, and rushed out of the room.
Al-Zaidi was initially held by the prime minister's guards and was later turned over to the Iraqi army's Baghdad command.
A conviction of these charges could have carried a sentence of up to two years in prison or a small fine, although it would have been unlikely to face the maximum penalty given his newfound "cult status" in the Arab world, according to a Middle-East observer.
"[15] Al-Zaidi announced in early 2018 his intent to run for the Iraqi Council of Representatives on Muqtada al-Sadr's Alliance towards Reforms ticket.
[36] In an interview with Reuters he stated that "The main real purpose and reason behind my nomination is to get rid of the corrupt, and to expel them from our country".