Bush shoe-thrower in hospital after beating: brother

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The Iraqi journalist who hurled shoes at US President George W. Bush is in hospital after being beaten up by security guards, his brother charged on Tuesday, as judicial authorities launched a probe into the incident that grabbed headlines around the world.

"He has been taken to Ibn Sina hospital because he has a broken arm and ribs and is also suffering injuries to his eye and leg," Durgham al-Zaidi said of his brother Muntazer.

The 29-year-old Muntazer al-Zaidi became an instant star in the Arab world when he threw his shoes at Bush on Sunday during the US leader's farewell visit to the country invaded by American forces in 2003.

Zaidi, a journalist for private Iraqi television channel Al-Baghdadia, was swiftly overpowered by Iraqi security forces after his action, regarded as the supreme mark of disrespect in the Muslim world.

His brother charged that Zaidi had been beaten by Iraqi security guards but was unable to say whether Muntazer had sustained the injuries while being overpowered during Sunday's protest or while in custody.

He said he had been told that his brother was initially held by Iraqi forces in the Green Zone where the US embassy and most government offices are housed. The Ibn Sina hospital, which is run by American military medical services, is also inside the zone.

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