(Muntadhar al-Zaidi)

[BANJARMASIN] - Wartawan Irak pelempar sepatu ke mantan Presiden Amerika George Bush saat jumpa pers, akan segera mengakhiri masa tahanannya.

Aksi lempar sepatu Muntadhar al-Zaidi justru dianggap heroik oleh dunia Arab. Zaidi yang memanggil Bush ''seekor anjing'' didakwa dengan pasal penghinaan pada Maret lalu.

Keluarga Zaidi dilaporkan tengah menyiapkan sambutan kepulangan Zaidi selayaknya seorang pahlawan ketika dia dibebaskan Senin ini.

Masa tahanan Zaidi selama tiga tahun dipotong menjadi setahun karena dianggap berkelakuan baik, bahkan dia dilepas tiga bulan lebih cepat dari jadwal pembebasan.

Keluarganya berencana akan menjemputnya di pintu gerbang pusat tahanan Baghdad dan selanjutnya menggelar sebuah pesta.

Sambutan Selayaknya Pahlawan
Kakak lelaki Zaidi mengatakan, selama dipenjara Zaidi mengalami pemukulan dengan menderita patah tulang lengan, iga dan pendarahan di dalam. Namun tuduhan itu dibantah militer Irak.

Aksi lempar sepatu ke mantan Presiden AS oleh wartawan dari TV basis Kairo Baghdadia ini membuatnya menjadi terkenal dan dianggap sebagai pahlawan oleh banyak orang, bukan hanya di Irak tapi juga dunia Arab.

Saat dia melempar sepatu ke arah George Bush, Zaidi berteriak ''Ini adalah ciuman perpisahan dari rakyat Irak, anjing. Ini dari para janda, anak yatim dan semua orang yang tewas di Irak''.

Aksinya ini juga dirayakan dalam permainan internet dan digambar di kaos dan beberapa orang bersedia menikahkan anak perempuan mereka untuk Zaidi.

Zaidi yang tinggal di Baghdad telah bekerja untuk al-Baghdadia selama tiga tahun. Seorang pejabat senior media ini mengatakan gajinya terus dibayarkan selama dia ditahan dan dia juga dibelikan sebuah rumah di ibukota.

Selama bekerja sebagai wartawan, Zaidi pernah diculik oleh pemberontak dan ditahan serta diinterogasi oleh pasukan AS di Irak.

[CNN] - The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush last year, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, will be released from jail Tuesday, his lawyer told CNN Monday.

TV reporter Muntadher al-Zaidi, shown in a file photo, was jailed after throwing his shoes at President Bush.

The journalist's family and supporters had been waiting outside the Baghdad jail where he was held, hoping he would be freed Monday.

The family promised to be back outside the prison Tuesday morning.

Udey al-Zaidi, Muntadhar's older brother, said Muntadhar al-Zaidi had asked his family to leave because they had waited there for hours, noting that it was too much for them while they were fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Udey al-Zaidi threatened a hunger strike and warned that Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki would be held responsible if anything were to happen to his brother while in detention.

The day had been an roller coaster ride of emotions -- first of celebration and then of disappointment.

Dhiyaa al-Saadi, head of Iraq's bar association and al-Zaidi's chief attorney, said he was awaiting a decision from the judge, who had requested additional documents from the sentencing hearing before making a ruling. The delay was procedural, according to al-Saadi.

Al-Zaidi is serving a one-year prison term after an appellate court reduced his original three-year sentence in April. His case returned to court in Baghdad on Monday.

Under Iraqi law, a "conditional discharge" allows for the release of a prisoner after he serves three-quarters of his sentence, on good behavior.

Al-Zaidi has been in jail since the December 14 news conference, at which he threw his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog" -- two of the worst insults in the Middle East. Bush ducked the shoes and was not hurt...