Shoe-hurling Iraqi reporter set for trial

The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush and called him a "dog" will stand trial on December 31, a court official said.

TV journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi is charged with "assaulting a foreign head of state visiting Iraq", said Abdul Satar Birqadr, spokesman for Iraq's High Judicial Council.

"The Criminal Court has set a date for trial on December 31 and a three-judge panel will run the hearings," he said.

"The case is not complicated and I expect it won't take a great deal of time to reach a ruling," he said, adding that it was up to the court to determine a sentence.

US-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has condemned Mr Zaidi's actions but he will likely not want to alienate Mr Zaidi's many supporters, particularly as he and other politicians weigh their parties' odds in provincial elections next month.

The defendant's lawyer said his client had been severely beaten following the shoe-throwing incident at a December 14 news conference in Baghdad, but Mr Zaidi's brother said the reporter would do the same again if he had the chance.

Uday al-Zaidi said his brother had told an investigative judge on Sunday that he had expected to be shot after hurling his first shoe.

But when that did not happen, "'that gave me time to throw the second (shoe)'," Mr Zaidi quoted his brother as saying. "'If the clock were turned back, I'd do the same thing over again'."

The trial of Mr Zaidi, whose actions struck a chord among those who blame Bush for the horrific bloodshed unleashed by the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, will likely be closely watched.