Shoe-thrower seeks asylum in Switzerland

GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George Bush is seeking political asylum in Switzerland, the man's attorney said.

Muntadhir al-Zaidi, 29, a correspondent for the al-Baghdadiya TV channel, shouted insults and threw his shoes -- considered an insult in Iraq -- at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in mid-December. Bush ducked to avoid the tossed footwear.

Mauro Poggia, al-Zaidi's attorney, said in the Swiss Tribune de Geneve newspaper that the journalist's family contacted him and he sent a letter to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, asking Switzerland to grant the reporter political asylum, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Al-Zaidi "can no longer work as a journalist without suffering horrible pressure," Poggia said. "His life could become hell in his own country."

The Iraqi journalist was subdued and escorted from the news conference and is being held in a jail in Baghdad. He was charged with "aggressive actions toward a foreign official," which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.