And so the final chapters of the story of Muntazar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then US President George W. Bush in December 2008, are being played out.

Al-Zaidi’s sentence was reduced from three years to one today by a Baghdad court. The presiding judge agreed with al-Zaidi’s lawyers that the crime should be reduced from assault to insulting a foreign leader.

All very political and predictable. Al-Zaidi had to do some jail time (and take a beating) because of the Iraq Government’s embarrassment. Now that Bush is an ex-President, however, all the fuss can be put away quietly.

And that quiet dismissal of the protest against the Bush Adminstration’s treatment of Iraqis will undoubtedly succeed:  the irony is that the news of al-Zaidi’s reduced sentence comes as the current US President, Barack Obama, makes a surprise visit to Baghdad and seizes tomorrow’s headlines.

The Associated Press is today reporting that a number of Iraqi clerics are calling for the release of Muntazar al-Zaidi, who was jailed for three years for throwing a shoe at former President George W Bush. According to AP:

Sheik Suhail al-Iqabi, a follower of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said the sentence against Muntadhar al-Zeidi is “a verdict against the Iraqi people who refuse the American occupation” of Iraq.

And:

Another Shiite cleric in the Sadrist stronghold of Kufa also condemned the prison sentence.

“We just wonder on what law the judge has based his sentence. Was this verdict taken to satisfy their masters?” Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Mohammadawi said during a sermon. “Why do you not try the Americans who are killing the Iraqi people in cold blood?”

See also:

• Muntazar al-Zaidi Update: 3 Years in Prison for Shoe-Throwing

The “trial” of Iraqi journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi finally concluded today, almost three months after he threw his shoes at then-US President George W. Bush.

Unsurprisingly, al-Zaidi was sentenced to three years in jail. Unsurprising because  a prison stay of 15 years, which he could have received for “assaulting” a foreign leader, risked affronting global opinion, while on the other hand, his challenge to Bush could not go unpunished.

To try and keep a lid on protests, Iraqi authorities cleared the courtroom of family and journalists before the sentence was announced.

Update (10 a.m. GMT): The presiding judge adjourned the trial until 12 March so the court can ask the Iraqi Cabinet whether Bush’s visit was “formal or informal”. That indicates a political decision is being sought on whether to seek the maximum 15-year sentence for al-Zaidi or to try him on a lesser charge.

As al-Zaidi entered the courtroom, supporters applauded and cheered, “”Imam Ali is with you, hero,” referring to a Shi’a saint. Al-Zaidi was handed a scarf printed with the Iraqi flag, which he kissed.
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Via Breaking News Online: “Emergency services responded to a suspicious item found over the White House fence which turned out to be a shoe.”

Ever since his trial was delayed at the end of December, there has been little news of Muntazar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush.

Today, however, al-Zaidi was allowed to talk for two hours with his brother Maitham, who said the journalist was in good shape. Another brother, Dargham, said that the prisoner turned 30 the day before, and “some patriotic officers…organized a party for him and brought birthday cake”. Muntazar al-Zaidi’s spirits were further boosted when he learned on Friday of the approval of his actions: “He was very happy when he heard that all the Iraqis support him. He even cried when he heard that there were even demonstrations on his behalf in the United States.”

Despite the good news, Muntazar al-Zaidi is still not being allowed to see his lawyer, who has only been allowed into the prison once since al-Zaidi’s arrest.

Last week, after the formal handover of sovereignty from US occupying forces to Iraqi authorities, we noted an Orwellian description in The New York Times that the country was now in a “violent semi-peace”.

Although attention has turned away from Baghdad, because of events in Gaza and also the (misguided) sense that the long aftermath to the 2003 war is ending, the tension in events keeps sneaking back. On the one hand, an interesting blog on the website Alive in Baghdad recounts last week’s Shi’a commemoration of Ashura: “This year many Iraqis have noted a dramatic decrease in violence. With the exception of a suicide attack on Iranian pilgrims in Kadhamiya, Shi’a in Iraq were able to celebrate 2009’s Ashura Festival in relative peace.”

On the other, this morning’s headlines highlight that violence: “A string of bombings around Iraq’s capital has killed eight people, including three Iraqi soldiers who died when their weapons truck was hit, and wounded at least 32.”

As the political complexities get even more tangled in advance of provincial elections — the latest is that Iraqi Sunni parties cannot agree on a replacement for the Speaker of the Parliament, who resigned in the midst of the debate over Muntazar al-Zaidi’s shoe-throwing — the half-full, half-empty state of “violent semi-peace” is likely to continue.

Enduring America has a proud tradition (in its two-plus months in existence) of combining international news and video games. We were proud, for example, to feature the Muntazar al-Zaidi tribute games last month and not-so-proud to report the US Army’s use of video games to get American teenagers into military service.

Now, however, we may take a step back. How can anyone compete, for taste and decency, with “Save Israel?”: “You need to save Israeli citys. First, click on the city, to turn on the alarm. Now you can click on the rocket, to blow it up.”