Update: Muntazar Al-Zaidi Court Date Set for 31 December

Urgent update on this morning's story Brother Confirms Muntazar al-Zaidi "Tortured":

According to Muntazar al-Zaidi's brother, Dhirgham, trial has been scheduled for a week on Wednesday.

Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: Brother Confirms "Torture"

The Iraqi Government's blocking of any news of Muntazar al-Zaidi's status, as politics turns to other issues such as the showdown over the status of the troops from Britain and five other countries, is almost complete today --- at least in the "Western" media.

The only story of significance is in The New York Times, reporting on the first visit to al-Zaidi by a family member. Speaking on al-Baghdadia television after the visit, al-Zaidi's brother Uday claimed that his brother had been "tortured". Muntazar al-Zaidi was stripped to his underwear, had cold water dumped on him, and was hit with a thick cable. Earlier beatings and burnings by cigarettes had left him with "bruises on his face, stitches on the bridge of his nose and swelling in his legs, arms and hands".

After the treatment, Muntazar al-Zaidi "told [his captors] to bring me a blank sheet of paper and I would sign it, and they could write whatever they wanted. I am ready to say I am a terrorist or whatever you want.” He added, however, that he did not write or sign anything as a result of the beatings and that his letter to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had not been coerced.

Significantly, the Times did not bother to follow up on the Al Baghdadia interview, for example, by noting the reports in Sunday's The Observer of Muntazar al-Zaidi's beating on his way to the police station. The reporter did call al-Maliki's office who --- unsurprisingly --- declined to make any comment.

Disturbingly, al-Zaidi has not been allowed to see lawyers. There is no information on when he might come to trial.

Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi: How Badly Was He Beaten?

Many US and British Sunday newspapers have summary stories on Iraqi Shoe-Gate, but only one is of significance. Afif Sarwan writes in The Observer of London:

Witnesses to his arrest and imprisonment have told the Observer Zaidi was badly beaten, during and after his arrest last Sunday, and that he risks losing the sight in one of his eyes as a result.

A police officer told Sarwan that al-Zaidi was not just beaten at the scene of his alleged crime but throughout his journey to the police station. According to the officer, this is when al-Zaidi's suffered at least one broken rib:

I felt sorry when I saw them beating him. His mouth was badly injured and he did not utter a single word throughout until one of the guards hit him in his left eye with a gun. Then he cried out that he couldn't see, and I saw blood inside his eye. I am a police officer but even I have to say I felt proud of what he did.

A doctor called to examine al-Zaidi said he had hematomas, bruises indicating internal bleeding, across his body and "particularly on his left leg, shoulders, face, and head". Specialists were called in to prevent bleeding which might threaten al-Zaidi's sight.

Taking the Case to the Streets? Update on Muntazar al-Zaidi

The Iraqi Government's ploy to stem news coverage of Muntazar al-Zaidi's case, by releasing his supposed letter asking for a pardon, seems to have succeeded --- at least with the British and American press. There is nothing this morning except a summary in The Guardian, which leads with the confirmation by an Iraqi judge of al-Zaidi's beating.

The valuable McClatchy News Service, however, is onto what may be a significant development: the defense of al-Zaidi in the streets. It reports on a small but vocal demonstration outside Baghdad's Green Zone, joined by some politicians, al-Zaidi's family, and protesters from outside Baghdad. Other rallies took place throughout Iraq.



Whether this becomes a "shoe intifada", as an Iranian ayatollah colourfully labelled the protests, remains to be seen. Given the Iraqi Government's attempt to obscure the al-Zaidi case --- literally, as he still has not been seen by family and lawyers --- it may be the best hope to cut through the facade of "justice" around his detention.

The War on Terror: What Happened to the Iraqi Shoes?

Further proof of President Bush's vigilance in keeping us safer:

Reports on Thursday said that the shoes thrown at Mr Bush had been examined by both Iraqi officials and the US Secret Service following the incident, and had then been destroyed.