BAGHDAD // An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W Bush was sentenced yesterday to three years in jail, a judgment that bought chaos to a Baghdad courthouse.
Muntadar al Zaidi, 30, became a hero throughout the Arab world when he pitched his two shoes at the former president of the United States on his farewell tour of Iraq in December. He narrowly missed Mr Bush's head.
Al Zaidi, a little-known television reporter with Al Baghdadiya, had earlier entered a not guilty plea and told the three-judge panel that his reaction was "a natural response to occupation".
Pandemonium ensued when news of the guilty judgment filtered out from the court. A sister of al Zaidi's fell to the floor weeping, supporters surged, like a human wave, towards the court doors jostling with security guards, a bottle of water was broken and a male relative was slapped in the face. A small child became separated from his family and was hoisted to safety.
In the courtroom, al Zaidi, wearing a smart beige suit, dark brown shirt, thin wire-framed glasses and tie, reacted with more decorum, "Long live Iraq", was reported to have been his muted response.
The family condemned the trial as an American showpiece. Relatives screamed: "Down with Bush."
Family members also shouted, "The prostitutes have more honour [than the court]" and "The Baathists have more honour."
The trial started badly for al Zaidi. His newly appointed lawyer, Tareq Hab, stormed out of court after being unable to finish his statement. The judge said he had already seen it.
Prosecutors then successfully argued that al Zaidi's confession, which his family insisted was brought on by beatings and torture, warranted his conviction.
The trial began on Feb 19 but was adjourned until yesterday. The defence argued Mr Bush was not on an official visit and the charge should be changed. The judges consulted the prime ministers office to clarify the matter. It had been an official visit, the office reported; the charge stood.
The defence team also tried to argue that al Zaidi had insulted, rather than assaulted Bush. This was rejected by the court.
Before the verdict was delivered the courtroom was emptied. Al Zaidi's family, supporters and onlookers, who numbered about 150, were forced to stand outside.
"I expect 40 per cent he will be freed and 60 per cent he will be put in jail," al Zaidi's brother, Dhergham al Zaidi, 32, said. "He's a hero like [Nelson] Mandela and he was put in jail for 10 years. He is like [Che] Guevara and he was killed," Many believed the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, had instructed the court to pass the guilty judgment. He was at the press conference with Mr Bush when the shoes were thrown and was incensed by the attack.
Um Saad, a sister of al Zaidi's, said: "Maliki is ready to give his wife to Bush just to keep him happy."
The incident, in which al Zaidi had shouted: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," tapped into a vein of anger and resentment felt by many Iraqis toward the US. Al Zaidi garnered widespread sympathy for his actions.
In the city of Tikrit, a supersized statue of a shoe was briefly erected. Television stations constantly showed footage of the incident and jokes circulated via text message.
"I hate Bush. If it was anyone else it would be bad, but I hate Bush, so it is good," Ali al Khasangi, 36, a lawyer watching the trial, said.
Dia al Saadi, one of al Zaidi's defence lawyer, was adamant the sentence was too harsh.
"It was an act of throwing a shoe and not a rocket. It was meant as an insult to the occupation," he said.
Abdul Sattar Bayrkdar, a court spokesman, said al Zaidi received the minimum sentence for his crime and that he could have received up to 15 years in prison. He was shown leniency due to his age and clean record.
For the al Zaidi family, this was scant compensation. As Um Zaman, al Zaidi's mother, walked away from the court she wailed "My son Muntadar, why did you do it? You've lost three years of your life."
talbone@thenational.ae
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
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RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
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Results
2pm: Handicap Dh 90,000 1,800m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,950m; Winner: Just A Penny, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
3pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Classic Conditions Dh300,000 1,400m; Winner: Thegreatcollection, Adrie de Vries, Doug Watson.
4pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m; Winner: Oktalgano, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.30pm: Conditions Dh250,000 1,400m; Winner: Madame Ellingtina, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m; Winner: Mystery Land, Fabrice Veron, Helal Al Alawi.
5.30pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,000m; Winner: Shanaghai City, Jesus Rosales, Rashed Bouresly.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
RESULT
Argentina 0 Croatia 3
Croatia: Rebic (53'), Modric (80'), Rakitic (90' 1)
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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