The Iraqi TV journalist who threw his shoes at then-president George W. Bush will be showered with gifts including a four-bedroom house - and at least one potential bride - upon his imminent release from jail, USATODAY reported.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, is scheduled to be freed Monday after spending nine months in prison for assault, according to Dhiya al-Saadi, his lawyer.
Al-Zeidi hurled both shoes at Bush during a Baghdad news conference last December to protest the U.S. presence in Iraq. Bush ducked twice and was unhurt; the incident was replayed numerous times on TV.
Sheikh Ahmed Jowda, a tribal leader in the West Bank, said he plans to send a young woman from his family "loaded with jewels and gold" to Iraq as a candidate for marriage.
"There are many Palestinian girls who want to marry Muntadhar," Jowda, 75, said by telephone from Nablus. "He chooses the one he likes."
"All Arab people ... hope to get the chance of doing what (al-Zeidi) did," he added.
The journalist's brother, Maitham Mehdi Jbarah al-Zeidi, said he has fielded phone calls "every single day" offering cash and support. "What (he) did was heroic and deserves all this appreciation from people who hate occupation," al-Zeidi said.
The owner of the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV network has continued to pay Muntadhar al-Zeidi's salary and also bought him a fully furnished two-story villa in a posh section of Baghdad, according to station manager Abdul Hameed al-Sayeh.
A prince in Qatar offered to pay for al-Zeidi's health care, his brother said. A Saudi businessman even called to bid $10 million for the famous shoes - but they were confiscated by Iraqi investigators.
The Iraqi government condemned the assault, for which al-Zeidi was sentenced to three years in prison in March. The sentence was reduced to one year because al-Zeidi had no prior record, then shortened again because of good behavior, said al-Saadi, the lawyer.
Bush downplayed the incident, describing it as a show of dissent in a newly democratic Iraq. Former first lady Laura Bush later said it was no laughing matter and called it "an assault."
Bush spokesman David Sherzer said Thursday he had no comment on al-Zeidi's pending release.
Not all Iraqis are offering gifts. "He should have spent more time in jail to learn how to respect guests," said Hussein Oreibi, 33, a grocery store owner in Baghdad.