Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: Trial Delayed Over Definition of "Assault"

CNN and Reuters are reporting that, according to the Supreme Judicial Council and Muntazar al-Zaidi's lawyer, the journalist's trial for "assault against a foreign head of state" has been delayed, as the court considers whether the throwing of a shoe is "assault".

Al-Zaidi's lawyer, Dhiaa al-Saadi,  is seeking a reduction of the charge from "assault" to "insult" of a foreign leader. He comments, ""Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a shoe?"

Iraqi legal expert Tariz Harab says it will take at least two weeks for the court to set a new date for trial.

Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: Rallies in Tehran and Washington

The sad reality is that there is almost nothing to report on Muntazar al-Zaidi's case. There is total silence in advance of the trial date of 31 December.

The only story of note in the last 72 hours has been the protest of Iranians near Tehran University before Friday prayers. Even this requires a bit of searching, as only the BBC to my knowledge has provided coverage.

It will be interesting to see if the press gives any attention to a demonstration in a much different part of the world, Monday's rally in front of the Iraqi Consulate in Washington DC.

Iraq: Showdown Averted?

Iraq-watchers can take a deep breath, at least for a few days. It looks like the al-Maliki Government has avoided an immediate crisis through a bit of manoeuvring, a bit of luck, and a bit of a climbdown.


First, the manoeuvring and the luck. The Iraqi Parliament didn't push the Government to the wall over the extension agreement setting a date of 31 May 2009 for the withdrawal of troops from Britain and five other countries. Having voted the initial agreement down on the weekend and then postponed a vote on Monday, the Parliament accepted that the withdrawal could be set by a Government resolution.

Members made their point that al-Malilki couldn't just railroad his proposals through. The luck for the Government came in the thank-you gift they could offer to Shia'a and Kurdish Parliamentarians: the departure of the Sunni Speaker of Parliament, Mahmud al-Mashhadani.

The Speaker was on shaky ground with his flamboyant, unpredictable behaviour, including repeated threats to resign. Last week, however, he went too far, trying to cut off discussion of the case of shoe-thrower Mantazer al-Zaidi and calling his colleagues "the worst Parliament in the world".

So, for the moment, the Government and Parliament each can claim maintenance of some authority, an uneasy but essential compromise in the run-up to elections.

Now for the Government climb-down. The 24 Interior Ministry officials arrested last week on allegations of developing a post-Baathist political party have now been bailed on lesser charges of preparing false documents.

The episode has turned into a struggle between al-Maliki and Co. and the Minister of the Interior, Javad al-Bulani, an "independent" (in both party affiliation and approach) Shi'a politician. If the arrests were political score-settling, al-Bulani's public position, the outcry from other parties, and American concern all clipped the Prime Minister's wings.

And now? Well, one might suggest a few days of uneasy truces all round.

Those few days may be turn out to be exactly one week, however. That's when Muntazar al-Zaidi comes to trial --- if he does not plead guilty, letting al-Maliki off the political hook, then the manoeuvres will start anew.

Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: "His Was a Democratic Act"

With the trial date set for Muntazar al-Zaidi and with limited visits to the journalist by lawyers and family, the story has gone quiet. There are no updates of significance today.

In this lull, an opinion piece by Roger Cohen in The New York Times is worth reading. It's muddled, at times outrageously simplistic ("Iraq is slowly learning the give-and-take of a system where differences are accommodated rather than quashed"), but at its heart is this essential defence of al-Zaidi's act:

Al-Zaidi’s gesture broke those barriers, penetrated the hermetic sealing, and brought Red-Zone anger to Green-Zone placidity. In this sense, his was a democratic act.

What it said was: “Tear down these walls.” What it summoned was the deaths, exile and arbitrary arrests that U.S. incompetence has inflicted on countless Iraqis — a toll on which al-Zaidi has reported. What it did was thrust Bush, for a moment, out of the comfort zone of his extravagant illusion.



Two Shoes for Democracy

Of all the questions Barack Obama needs to ask right now, the most important should be addressed to the Secret Service: how the heck did Muntader al-Zaidi get his second shoe off?

Al-Zaidi, of course, is the Iraqi television journalist who expressed his rage at the U.S. occupation of his country by hurling first one shoe, then the other, at President George W. Bush in Baghdad. He’s now in detention.

As for his shoes, they’re not going to end up on some gilded stand in a dusty museum somewhere in the Arab world. They’ve apparently been destroyed at a laboratory during a search for explosives.

Yes, you read that right.

The shadow of Richard Reid, the would-be shoe-bomber of 2001 whom most regular air travelers would happily submit to protracted torture, extends even to Iraq. One thing’s for sure: al-Zaidi, now a hero in much of the Arab world, won’t be short of replacement footwear once he emerges from captivity.

When that will be is anyone’s guess. He’s apologized to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Bush has urged the Iraqis “not to overreact.”

One theory is that time enough is needed for the journalist’s bruises to fade. One certainty is that the pummeling he got was as intense as the reaction to what he did was slow. A second shoe is one too many. Change the last letter in shoe and you have shot.

These, however, were mere shoes. The throwing of them was offensive — and harmless. Journalists should not throw shoes, even at inept American presidents. Still, with apologies to the late E. M. Forster, I’m tempted to call this incident: “Two Shoes for Democracy.”

Bush, when the shoes came his way, was in the Green Zone, the walled four-square-mile home to Western officialdom and the Iraqi government that has about as much in common with the rest of Iraq as Zurich has with Falluja.

For all it reflects of Iraqi life beyond its walls in what is sometimes called the Red Zone, the Green Zone might as well be in Baton Rouge.

This sprawling urban garrison, where U.S. forces moved into Saddam Hussein’s Mesopotamian Fascist Republican Palace right after the 2003 invasion, is a monument to failure. As long it exists in the center of Baghdad, Iraqi democracy will be hollow.

It is openness, accessibility and accountability that distinguish democracies from dictatorships. Or it should be. A country governed from a fortress inaccessible to 99 percent of its citizens may be many things, but is not yet a democracy.

Al-Zaidi’s gesture broke those barriers, penetrated the hermetic sealing, and brought Red-Zone anger to Green-Zone placidity. In this sense, his was a democratic act.

What it said was: “Tear down these walls.” What it summoned was the deaths, exile and arbitrary arrests that U.S. incompetence has inflicted on countless Iraqis — a toll on which al-Zaidi has reported. What it did was thrust Bush, for a moment, out of the comfort zone of his extravagant illusion. Perhaps, for a second, the other shoe dropped.

After the incident, I heard from a U.S. friend now serving in the joint security station in Sadr City, the teeming Shiite district of Baghdad from which al-Zaidi hailed. He wrote: “We did not get a fusillade of shoes thrown over the concrete barriers and razor wire. One college engineering student in Sadr basically said re the press conference incident: ‘Well that’s the democracy you brought us, right?’”

Or rather, it was a glimmering of such a democracy. Anyone throwing a shoe at Saddam Hussein would have been executed, along with numerous other members of his family, plus assorted friends, within hours of such an incident. Iraq is slowly learning the give-and-take of a system where differences are accommodated rather than quashed.

But the process is slow. Recovering from murderous despotism takes a minimum of a generation.

Al-Zaidi’s anger was that of a Shia — at the U.S. occupation and at all the loss. There is fury and fear, too, among Sunnis, whose “awakening” dealt a devastating blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq but whose mistrust of the now-dominant Shia is visceral. Another of Obama’s pressing questions should be: does my 16-month withdrawal timetable risk re-igniting sectarian war?

One thing is certain: before the United States pulls out its combat troops, the Green Zone must cease to exist. While it’s there, it’s a sign that Iraqis — all Iraqis — have not yet learned to live together. The district chairman in Sadr City said this to my U.S. friend last week: “The Green Zone needs to be deleted.”

That was the message in al-Zaidi’s gesture. He’s being held for insulting a foreign leader and could face long imprisonment. But the Green Zone is an insult to all Iraqis. Al-Zaidi should be released and an Iraqi-American commission on terminating the Green Zone established at once.

Bush dodged a shoe; he cannot dodge shame.

Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: I Will Not Apologise

Al Jazeera has the only significant update this morning, reporting on a meeting between Muntazar al-Zaidi and his lawyer, Dhiya'a al-Sa'adi. Al-Sa'adi, clarifying the alleged letter sent by al-Zaidi to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, makes clear that al-Zaidi has no wish to apologise to George Bush:

Muntazer al-Zaidi considers what he did when he threw his shoes at President Bush as exercising his freedom of expression, in opposing and rejecting the occupation, which has brought misery to Iraq.

Al-Sa'adi continued:

His actions were solely targeted at President Bush to tell him that he rejects the occupation and all that it stands for in Iraq, in particular, in light of the inhumane way that Iraqi prisoners have been treated by the American forces.

Al-Sa'adi also confirmed the reports from al-Zaidi's brothers that the journalist had been badly beaten:

There are visible signs of torture on his body, as a result of being beaten by metal instruments.

Medical reports have shown that the beating he was subjected to has led to him losing one of his teeth as well as injuries to his jaw and ears.

He has internal bleeding in his left eye, as well as bruises over his face and stomach. Almost none of his body was spared.