Shoes of Dignity

By VOA News
17 December 2008


A Saudi Arabian man has offered $10 million for the shoes of an Iraqi journalist hurled at U.S. President George Bush in Baghdad Sunday.

Middle Eastern news agencies reported on Mohamed Makhafa's offer Wednesday. He is quoted telling Cairo's al-Safwa Television that the footwear hurled at the U.S. president's head is the "shoe of dignity" with high "moral value."

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reports that an Egyptian man is offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to the shoe-thrower, Muntazer al-Zaidi.

Reuters reports the young woman Amal Saad Gumaa said she likes the idea of being attached to a man she finds so honorable.

Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets in support of Zaidi, who has achieved something of a folk hero status since the incident.

The shoe-tossing has also inspired an online game (www.SockAndAwe.com) that lets players throw brown laced-loafers at Mr. Bush. The site says more than 17 million cyber-shoes have struck the president's virtual head as of Wednesday.

Zaidi threw one shoe, then the other, at President Bush during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday. Mr. Bush ducked as each shoe narrowly missed hitting his head.

After throwing the first shoe, al-Zaidi yelled that it was a "farewell kiss" for Mr. Bush, whom he called a "dog."

Security officials took Zaidi out of the room, as other Iraqi journalists apologized. President Bush shrugged off the incident and said he never felt threatened.



You can throw your own shoes at Duhbya right here...(:


Sock and Awe