Iraqi shoe-thrower who tried to bean Bush has to duck in a similar fashion

Iraqi shoe-thrower finds out what it was like

PARIS — The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in Baghdad last year had a taste of his own medicine Tuesday when he nearly got beaned by a shoe thrower at a news conference in Paris.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi ducked and the shoe hit the wall behind him.

“He stole my technique,” al-Zeidi later quipped.

The identity of the new shoe-thrower — and his motivation — weren’t immediately clear, but he appeared to be an Iraqi. It was not known if the intruder was a journalist or just pretended to be one to attend the news conference at a center for foreign reporters.

Whatever his motive, the confrontation didn’t stop there.

Al-Zeidi’s brother, Maithan, chased the attacker in the audience and — what else? — pelted him with a shoe as he left the room.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a TV reporter, became a hero to many opponents of the Iraq war when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December 2008 while shouting: “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” Al-Zeidi was quickly wrestled to the ground by security guards, then imprisoned for nine months before being released in September.

The Paris news conference was held so he could talk about his experiences.