AS HIS size 10s spun through the air towards George Bush, Muntazer al-Zaidi - the man the world now knows as the shoe-thrower - was bracing for an American bullet.

''He thought the secret service was going to shoot him,'' says Zaidi's younger brother, Maitham. ''He expected that, and he was not afraid to die.''



Zaidi's actions during the former US president's swansong visit to Iraq last December have not stopped reverberating in the nine months since. Next Monday, when the journalist walks out of prison, his 10 raging seconds are set to take on a new life even more dramatic than the opening act.

Across Iraq and in every corner of the Arab world, Zaidi is being feted. The 20 words or so he spat at Mr Bush - ''This is your farewell kiss, you dog. This is for the widows and orphans of Iraq'' - have been immortalised, and in many cases memorised. Pictures of the president ducking have been etched on to walls across Baghdad, made into T-shirts in Egypt, and appeared in children's games in Turkey.

Zaidi has won the adulation of millions who believe his act of defiance did what their leaders had been too cowed to do. Iraq has been short of heroes since the dark days of Saddam Hussein, and many civilians are bestowing greatness on the figure that finally took the fight to an overlord.

''He is a David and Goliath figure,'' said Salah al-Janabi, a salesman in downtown Baghdad. ''When the history books are written, they will look back on this episode with great acclaim. Al-Zaidi's shoes were his slingshot.''

From his prison cell, Zaidi has a sense of the gathering fuss, but not the full extent of the benefactors and patrons preparing for his release.

A new four-bedroom house has been built by his former boss. A new car - and the promise of many more - awaits. Pledges of harems, money and health care are pouring in to his employers, the al-Baghdadia television channel.

''One Iraqi who lived in Morocco called to offer to send his daughter to be Muntazer's wife,'' said editor Abdul Hamid al-Saij. ''Another called from Saudi [Arabia] offering $10 million for his shoes, and another called from Morocco offering a gold-saddled horse. After the event, we had callers from Palestine and many women asking to marry him, but we didn't take their names. Many of their reactions were emotional. We will see what happens when he is freed.''

From the roof of his brother's new home, Maitham al-Zaidi said: ''He always thought he would die as a martyr, either by al-Qaeda or the Americans. More than once he was kidnapped by insurgents. He was surprised that Bush's guards didn't shoot him on the spot.''

Muntazer al-Zaidi has told Maitham that he is planning to open an orphanage when he leaves prison and will not work again as a journalist.

Muntazer has alleged that he was tortured by government officials. Medical reports say he has lost at least one tooth and has two broken ribs and a broken foot that have not healed.

''He will stay in Iraq, but first he has to leave the country to get his health fixed,'' said another brother, Vergam.

Source: The Age

I recall Bush asked for clemancy for the shoe thrower.

bush is great, thanks to him, the world now knows what islam is all about.
no wonder oyu guys hate him, he has seen through your deception.

"The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself: "In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule." The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."