Iraqi shoe journalist seeks Swiss asylum

Shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist Muntazer Al-Zaidi, a reporter with Cairo-based al-Baghdadia television network, is seeking political asylum in Switzerland.

The 28-year-old Iraqi journalist grabbed the world spotlight after he stood up about 12 feet from Bush said in an interview broadcast on Monday to TSR television: "I really want to go to Switzerland because it is a neutral country and because it is a country that did not support the occupation of Iraq,"

"Switzerland hosts many international organizations, including some that fight for children, and Switzerland is a country that has a great democratic tradition. It is an example for the world," he added in the interview.

Zaidi meanwhile noted that he wants to launch a "vast operation" to coax Iraqis into taking former US president George W. Bush to court.

"Bush and his collaborators should face trial in an international tribunal for war crimes committed during the occupation of Iraq," he said.

The reporter was released ten days ago after nine months in jail after he was initially sentenced to three years for assaulting a foreign head of state. But his sentence was cut to one year for good behavior.

Al-Zaidi maintains that he was abused and tortured while imprisoned.