Shoe Thrower Sentenced

BAGHDAD (AP) - Lawyers for the Iraqi journalist who threw two
shoes at then-President George W. Bush say his three-year prison
sentence is "unexpectedly harsh."
They say they plan to appeal Muntadhar al-Zeidi's
conviction for assaulting a
foreign leader. He had faced up to 15 years in prison.
The 30-year-old journalist pleaded not guilty to the assault
charge, telling the three-judge panel what he did "was a natural
response to the occupation."
Al-Zeidi has become a hero to Iraqis. One Baghdad business owner
says he "should have been honored and not sent to prison." A
lawmaker loyal to Shiite cleric anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
says he was "expressing his point of view about Bush in a
democratic way," and should have been released.
Lawyers for al-Zeidi had argued their client was provoked by
anger over Bush's claims of success in a war that has devastated
his country.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)