Ahmadinejad shoe attack a miss according to an article at ABC via Yahoo! News. The report from earlier today says video of the incident reveals what appears to be a man using a shoe to try to strike Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the Iranian president greeted a crowd in Egypt today.
In the video, Ahmadinejad is seen in a crowd of people, smiling and shaking hands, when a bearded man enters the frame holding a shoe high over his head. “The shoe comes down twice in Ahmadinejad's direction, but too far from the Iranian leader to pose a threat.”
Sources say Ahmadinejad was quickly taken to a waiting car as several men turned on the shoe-brandishing attacker, who accuses the Iranian president of "killing his brothers." Iran has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's ongoing, bloody civil war.
This brings to mind another president who was attacked with a shoe. Back in 2008, former President George W. Bush dodged shoes which were thrown at him by a local television correspondent in Baghdad during his final visit there.
"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," said Muntadhar al-Zaidi before throwing the shoes. Al-Zaidi was sentenced to prison for assaulting a foreign head of state. He was released in September 2009.
In the Middle East, it is considered highly insulting to hit someone with the bottom of a shoe, as it is considered dirty.
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