Relatives and colleagues said acted because he "detested" Bush and America

Shoe-thrower 'too injured' to be in court

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi journalist who became an instant media star for hurling his shoes at US President George W. Bush appeared on Wednesday before a judge investigating the incident.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, 29, a television reporter who relatives and colleagues said acted because he "detested" Bush and America, was brought before the judge in the high-security Green Zone in the heart of Baghdad, his brother, Dhargham, said.

Al-Zaidi appeared before the judge in his jail cell "because he is too injured to appear in a courtroom," Australia's Herald Sun quotes the brother as saying."

The al-Zaidi family went to Baghdad's Central Criminal Court expecting to attend a hearing," reports the paper. The brother said "the family was told that the investigative judge went to see [Muntazer] al-Zaidi in jail, and to return in eight days," which Dhargham took to mean that his brother "was severely beaten and they fear that his appearance could trigger anger at the court."

But Iraqi officials and another brother deny that the journalist suffered severe injuries after being wrestled to the floor after the incident, the Herald Sun says.