(15 Dec 2008)
1. Wide of people walking in street
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Donata Jordan, Maryland resident
"At first I thought it was funny and then I felt a little embarrassed. I mean, he is our president still."
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Linden Ellis, Washington DC resident:
"It's not very professional but pretty hilarious."
4. Cutaway of street
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) No name given, Washington DC resident:
"I thought it was pretty immature so, but sometimes with free press people feel a little too free, I guess, so."
6. Cutaway of street with cars and man walking
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rahul Das, Washington DC resident:
"I guess it's just indicative of the way the world feels about Bush and his policies. It's sad that they have to express it in that way but I think all in all everything worked out. It wasn't any big deal and it looks like they, from what I saw in the news, they apprehended the guy that threw the shoes, right?"
8. Cutaway of sidewalk with people walking
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Marty Graves, Virginia resident:
"Well, I thought actually he handled it pretty well. I also think probably we didn't get much of a real story out of it. Like why the guy really threw the shoe. And what was motivating him and what's happening with them in Iraq."
10. Cutaway of sidewalk with people walking
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Kalb, Maryland resident:
"I think it's good that, it's free expression by the Iraqi. More power to him."
12. Wide of street with cars passing and people walking in background
STORYLINE
Residents in the US capital had a variety of reactions to news that an Iraqi reporter hurled two shoes at US President George W. Bush as he spoke during a farewell visit to the Iraqi capital.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was kidnapped by militants last year, was being held by Iraqi security on Monday and interrogated about whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a news conference the previous day in Baghdad, said an Iraqi official.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Showing the sole of your shoe to someone in the Arab world is a sign of extreme disrespect, and throwing your shoes is even worse.
While some US citizens saw it as an indication of the world's unhappiness with Bush's policies, others said it was an unnecessary sign of a lack of respect towards the 'leader of the free world'.
The president, who ducked the shoes, called the incident "a bizarre moment."
The incident raised fears of a security lapse in the heavily guarded Green Zone where the press conference took place.
Al-Zeidi, who is in his late 20s, was kidnapped by militias on November 16, 2007, and released three days later.
His station said no ransom was paid and refused to discuss the case.
Bush himself later made light of the incident, joking that it was definitely a size 10 shoe as he calmly concluded the news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
He said he didn't feel insulted by the incident and didn't "hold it against the Iraqi government".
Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to the new president elect Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it.
The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence and to celebrate a recent US-Iraq security agreement, which calls for US troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
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