Word: maliki
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...lawmakers who attended the session. It's not clear if al-Mashhadani, who is known for his outbursts, will follow through. But the Sadrists, in particular, are keen to exploit the massive public sympathy for the Shi'ite reporter to turn up the heat on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over the issue, especially ahead of provincial elections slated for Jan. 31. (See pictures of the shoe attack's aftermath...
...Sadrists were saying 'We are talking about having immunity for foreign troops here while an Iraqi is in prison for insulting a foreigner,'" says Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker who attended the session. "They're trying to embarrass al-Maliki in an election year, to portray him as an American puppet." (See the Top 10 Awkward Moments...
...Zaidi's case is now before the Iraqi judiciary, but few in Iraq expect the courts to have the last word in this case. The correspondent's actions were not merely an affront to the U.S. President; they discombobulated al-Maliki as well, who was standing beside Bush as he nimbly dodged the size-10 leather projectiles. Al-Zaidi has penned a letter of apology to the Prime Minister, asking for a pardon and saying his actions were directed squarely against Bush and not at al-Maliki, according to Omar Almashhadani, a spokesman for the Sunni Tawafuk parliamentary bloc...
Iraq - indeed, the entire region - is watching what happens next to this formerly little-known Iraqi journalist. That leaves al-Maliki with few good options. The Prime Minister has worked hard in the past year to cultivate his nationalist bona fides, increasingly pushing back against Washington and driving a hard bargain on a recently approved bilateral security pact with the U.S. Yet those finely honed patriotic credentials could crumble if al-Maliki deals harshly with al-Zaidi...
...only be done but also be seen to be done, so he will probably be tried and then either released with a fine or a muted sentence, according to several parliamentarians. Few doubt that he will be convicted. "It's about what happens after the conviction," says Othman. "Al-Maliki could do something about it, then pardon him or release him with a fine. Many people support al-Zaidi." Othman adds: "People will blame al-Maliki if he is sentenced or if he's been tortured ... And we are in an election year." Al-Maliki must tread lightly to make...