Iraqi shoe thrower freed

Obama in Egypt: Cairo University speech (full text)     Posted: 15-09-2009 , 12:22 GMT

The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush was released Tuesday after nine months in prison, and said Iraqi security forces tortured him with beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his detention. Muntadhar al-Zeidi said he now feared for his life and believed that U.S. intelligence agents would chase after him.   “These fearsome services, the U.S. intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary … in a bid to kill me,” he said, according to the AP. “And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially or professionally,” he said.    Outside his home in central Baghdad, celebrations erupted at the news of his release. “I congratulate the Iraqi people and the Muslim world and all free men across the world on the release of Muntadhar,” his brother Uday stated. “Every time Bush turns a new page in his life he will find Muntadhar’s shoes waiting for him.” Al-Zeidi’s brother said the reporter will travel to Greece on Thursday for medical checkups and because he had concerns about his safety.   © 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) Russian sports: Getting serious Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that a state doping control system should be established for Russian sports and tougher penalties may be introduced for those who break the rules. “Every provision should be made and a state [doping] control mechanism established, and we should act vigorously. If necessary, let’s also discuss moves to toughen penalties,” Putin said at a meeting of the presidential council on sports development and arrangements for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Two weeks ago three Russian biathlon racers tested positive for the Russian version of the banned substance Erythropoietin (EPO) at the Biathlon World Championship in South Korea’s Pyeongchang. The athletes were all disqualified and forced to leave the country. Russia has always been serious about her sports and the credibility attributed to her sportspeople. Doping is an international phenomenon which premeates throughout the world of sport and practically all its modalities. In today’s world, it is not a case of what you take, but rather how you avoid being caught. While in the old days a dose of glucose was administered before a race, today doping is far more scientifically advanced and therefore more difficult to detect. However this does not make it correct and Vladimir Putin’s stance is one of openness and transparency, two vectors which have long underpinned Moscow’s modus operandi Read more  Print version Add comment Obama in Egypt: Cairo University speech (full text)