Iraqi shoe thrower freed, alleges he was tortured with electric shocks India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Muntazar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist, who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush during his last visit to the Iraqi capital last year, has claimed that while in jail, he was tortured with electric shocks. Demanding an apology after his release from a Baghdad jail, he said he was also repeatedly beaten and whipped in his first few days of custody. He told a news conference at the TV station where he works that his actions were motivated by what he called the oppression and humiliation of Iraqis under the US occupation. The Telegraph quoted him as saying that while he was now free, his country is still held captive. Zaidi was jailed for assaulting a foreign head of state. At the time of the incident, he had shouted "it is the farewell kiss, you dog". The attack on Bush took place on December 14 last year. Bush successfully ducked to avoid the speeding footwear, and later laughed off the attack. The incident, however, caused massive embarrassment, to both him and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Zaidi faces the prospect of a very different life from his previous existence as a journalist for Al-Baghdadia television, a small, privately owned Cairo-based station, which continued to pay his salary while he was in jail. He is now in great demand and has had offers to work abroad.