Brother: Iraqi reporter has no regrets
The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush said he would do it again and that he was forced to write a letter of apology after being tortured in jail, the journalist's brother said Monday.
According to the AP, the prime minister's office said last week that Muntadhar al-Zeidi had written a letter of apology and asked Nuri al-Maliki to recommend a pardon. But his brother, Uday al-Zeidi that the letter was written against the journalist's will. "He told me that he has no regret because of what he did and that he would do it again," Uday al-Zeidi stated.
According to him, he visited his brother in jail on Sunday and found him with a missing tooth and cigarette burns on his ears. Muntadhar told his brother that jailers also doused the journalist with cold water while he was naked, Uday al-Zeidi said.
Muntadhar will go on trial later this month on charges that risk up to 15 years in jail, a judge said on Monday. "The investigation phase is over and the case has been transferred to the Central Criminal Court," investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani said, according to AFP. "The trial will start on Wednesday, December 31."
Zeidi stands accused of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit."
The Iraqi prime minister, meanwhile, claimed that al-Zeidi said in the letter that a known terrorist had induced him to throw the shoes. "He revealed ... that a person provoked him to commit this act and that person is known to us for slitting throats," al-Maliki said, according to the prime minister's Web site. The alleged instigator was not named.
The premier also said that his government remains "committed to protecting the journalist in performing his professional duty" and guarantees him the right to practice his profession "on condition that he does not violate the dignity of others."