Monument dedicated to Iraqi shoe-tosser

Girls stand next to a sculpture of a shoe that serves as a monument to the shoes thrown at then-US president George W. Bush in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009. (AP Photo)

BAGHDAD — When an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush at a Baghdad press conference last month, the attack spawned a flood of web quips, political satire and street rallies across the Arab world.

Now it’s inspired a work of art.

A sofa-sized shoe statue was unveiled Thursday in Tikrit, the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described his fibreglass-and-copper work as a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.

The statue also has inscribed a poem honouring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist.

Al-Zeidi was charged with assaulting a foreign leader, but the trial was postponed after his lawyer sought to reduce the charges.