伊拉克落成“飞鞋雕塑” 向砸鞋英雄致敬

伊拉克落成“飞鞋雕塑” 向砸鞋英雄致敬

For the war-beaten orphans of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, this

big old shoe fits.

A huge sculpture of the footwear hurled at President Bush in December

during a trip to Iraq has been unveiled in a ceremony at the Tikrit

Orphanage complex.

Assisted

by

children

at

the

home,

sculptor

Laith

al-Amiri

erected

a

brown

replica of one of the shoes hurled at Bush and Prime Minister Nuri

al-Maliki

by

journalist

Muntadhir

al-Zaidi

during

a

press

conference

in

Baghdad.

Al-Zaidi

was

jailed

for

his

actions,

and

a

trial

is

pending.

But

his

angry

gesture touched a defiant nerve throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

He is regarded by many people as a hero. Demonstrators in December took

to the streets in the Arab world and called for his release.

The shoe monument, made of fiberglass and coated with copper, consists

of

the

shoe

and

a

concrete

base.

The

entire

monument

is

3.5

meters

(11.5

feet) high. The shoe is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9

feet) wide.

The orphans helped al-Amiri build the $$5,000 structure -- unveiled

Tuesday -- in 15 days, said Faten Abdulqader al-Naseri, the orphanage

director.

the

victims

of

Bush's

war,

al-Naseri

said.

shoe

monument

is

a

gift

to

the

next

generation

to

remember

the

heroic

action

by

the

journalist.

parents about it,

their

parents

will

start

talking

about

the

hero

Muntadhir

al-Zaidi,

who threw his shoe at George W. Bush during his unannounced farewell

visit.

Saddam

Hussein, the former Iraqi leader

toppled by the United States in

2003, was from the Tikrit region.

Al-Zaidi

marked

his

30th

birthday

in

jail

last

month.

One

of

his

brothers

said he is