Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush released from prison

BAGHDAD: The brother of an Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush in a stunning act of protest that made him a hero around the Arab world says the journalist has been released from a Baghdad prison.

Uday al-Zeidi says his brother, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, left an Iraqi army base where the prison is located on Tuesday and was accompanied by several members of parliament.

Al-Zeidi, a little-known reporter for a small Iraqi TV station, gained instant hero status in the Arab world last December when he hurled his shoes at Bush as he stood next to Iraq's prime minister at a Baghdad news conference.

The reporter spent nine months in jail. He was to have been released Monday, but that was held up because of delays in processing paperwork.