Shoe demo targets US embassy in London

Protestors staged a shoe protest outside the U.S. embassy in London on Friday, demanding the release of the Iraqi journalist held after throwing his footwear at U.S. President George W. Bush.

Demonstrators voiced support for "courageous" journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who has been in custody in Baghdad since Sunday's dramatic shoe protest which made him an instant sensation in the Arab world.

Representatives of a group called Media Workers Against The War delivered a letter to the U.S. embassy urging authorities to "guarantee his safe treatment and affect his immediate release from custody."

"We as journalists believe that our colleague Muntadar al-Zaidi is guilty of nothing but expressing Iraqis' legitimate and overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-led occupation of their country," it said.

Courageous act

Another protester, Sabah Jawad of Iraqi Democrats Against The Occupation, said: "This guy was courageous. He didn't think about the consequences of his actions."

"He went there fully aware that this might be an implication for him and for his safety. His life is in threat but he represented the Iraqi people by this action. We are demanding his immediate and unconditional release."

In the meantime, Muslim preachers from both sides of Iraq's once-bloody Sunni-Shiite divide appealed to the government on Friday to release al Zaidi.

The family of al-Zaidi, meanwhile, protested at an entrance to the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad where they believe he is being held in a hospital after being badly injured during his arrest.

At Baghdad's main Shiite mosque, al-Kadhum, preacher Muhammad al-Shami leading Friday prayers demanded that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki free al-Zaidi.

"We hold them responsible for his safety," the preacher said. "They are responsible for his life, his health and psychological condition."

At Baghdad's main Sunni Arab mosque, preacher Uthman Raheem asked Maliki for an explanation.

"From this place we call on the prime minister and ask him, 'Tell us why you have detained a person who made such a heroic and fair act? A stand that all of us should have taken a long time ago'," Raheem said in his sermon. "Why do you detain a man who stood up in the face of injustice?"

We hold them responsible for his safety. They are responsible for his life, his health and psychological condition,

Iraqi Shiite preacher Muhammad al-Shami

Bridging Iraqi divides

Fighting between minority Sunni Arabs who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein and the majority Shiite Arabs now in ascendancy killed thousands of people during the bloodshed unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The violence has finally begun to die down even though suicide and car bomb blasts, many attributed to militant group al-Qaeda, remain routine.

The cause of the journalist who also called Bush a "dog" at the news conference in Baghdad where he threw his shoes, narrowly missing the president, has bridged Iraq's divides.

Many Iraqis, whether Sunni or Shiite, blame Bush personally for the tens of thousands who died in the years of warfare.

In the western city of Falluja, a Sunni preacher praised al-Zaidi on Friday and called him a courageous man who honored all Iraqis with his action.

Al-Zaidi's whereabouts were unknown on Friday. He appeared on Tuesday before an investigatory judge and could face trial on charges of "aggression against a president," a crime that carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

At one of the heavily-guarded entrances to the Green Zone, an area that houses many government offices and foreign missions, Zaidi's family and a few dozen supporters waved banners and vowed to continue to protest until he was freed.

"We know nothing about him or about his health and if he's dead or still alive. We are asking to see him," said Um Saad, one of the journalist's sisters.

His aunt, Um Zaman, broke into tears.

"When I saw them beating him on television and he shouted in pain ... We want to see him, even if I am the only one allowed in for God's sake," she said.

Why do you detain a man who stood up in the face of injustice?

Iraqi Sunni preacher Uthman Raheem