Bush shoe protester has been beaten, Iraqi judge says

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush was beaten afterwards and had bruises on his face, the investigating judge in the case said today, as a senior cleric in Iran urged others to wage a "shoe intifada" against the US.

The reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, had bruises on his face and around his eyes, said the judge, Dhia al-Kinani said.

Zaidi was wrestled to the ground after throwing the shoes during a Sunday press conference by Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

He remains in custody and is expected to face charges of insulting a foreign leader.

Kinani said a complaint about Zaidi's treatment had been filed on his behalf and court officials "will watch the footage to identify those who have beaten him ... He was beaten and we filed a case for that. Zaidi did not raise a complaint and he can drop this case if he wants to."

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati praised what he called the "shoe intifada" at Friday prayers. Jannati proposed people in Iraq and Iran carry shoes in further anti-American demonstrations. "This should be a role model," he said.

Yesterday, it emerged that Zaidi had asked Maliki to forgive him. In a letter, he said his "big ugly act cannot be excused", according to Maliki's media adviser.

In a plea for clemency, Zaidi added: "I remember in the summer of 2005, I interviewed your excellency and you told me: 'Come in, this is your house.' And so I appeal to your fatherly feelings to forgive me."

The journalist called Bush a "dog" at the press conference in Baghdad and hurled both his shoes at him, forcing him to duck.

Yesterday, an Egyptian man offered his 20-year-old daughter to Zaidi as a bride. Cobblers from Turkey to Lebanon have claimed the shoes were made in their factories.

Hundreds of protesters in Iraq have rallied to the journalist's cause and demanded his release.

Parliamentary reaction has been divided, with MPs clashing this week over whether he should be forgiven.

Zaidi's family have said he suffered a broken arm and other injuries after he was dragged away by Iraqi security officers and US secret service agents. They said he was in hospital in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Zaidi was brought before a judge on Tuesday and admitted "aggression against a president" – an offence that could carry a 15-year sentence, officials said.

The journalist's lawyer said more than 1,000 lawyers had offered to defend him. University students gathered in Falluja on Wednesday to show their support for him, raising their shoes and throwing rocks at US soldiers, who reportedly opened fire above the crowd. Protesters said one student was injured.

"We demonstrated to express our support for Muntazar al-Zaidi but we were surprised with the entrance of the US military," said a protester, Ahmed Ismail.

"Unconsciously, we raised our shoes expressing our support for Zaidi, but they attacked us."

The US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, suggested that the attention to the incident was overblown. "We would hope that the fact of a US president standing next to a freely elected prime minister of Iraq who just happens to be Shia, who is governing in a multi-confessional, multiethnic democracy in the heart of the Middle East, is not overshadowed by one incident like this," McCormack told reporters in Washington.

McCormack said he believed that in the coming years "the fact of the president making that visit under those circumstances will probably overshadow any memory of this particular gentleman and what he did.