Muslims pray for release of Bush shoe-flinger

LUCKNOW: A section of Muslims here has offered special prayers for the early release of Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi who hurled shoes at US President George W Bush, a cleric said on Saturday.

The prayers have been organised in prominent seminaries and mosques in Lucknow on the call of the Islamic Centre of India, said Maulana Khalid Rasheed, who heads the city's oldest Islamic seminary Firangi Mahal.

Maulana Rasheed said, "We will continue to hold such prayers till Zaidi is freed."

Muntazer al-Zaidi, a reporter for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, threw both his shoes at the outgoing president at a news conference. Bush ducked and was not injured.