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Iraq shoe-thrower inspires Web games
A shoe-throwing incident at an Iraqi news conference with George W. Bush has inspired a spate of Internet games where the players hurl footwear at moving targets of the U.S. president.
The games, which have mushroomed online and spread by email, range from animations to cut-up footage of the now-infamous news briefing on Sunday when an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the president who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Pelting someone with shoes is considered a grave insult in the Arab world.
One game, which appears on the site http://www.sockandawe.com gives players 30 seconds to try to hit Bush with a shoe as many times as possible, with the score appearing in a corner of the screen.
Players are greeted with the command: "OBJECTIVE: Hit President Bush in the face with your shoes! Do it!"
On-target shots are met with a "well done" message.
The television reporter who threw the shoes, Muntazer al-Zaidi, has become an instant sensation in the Arab world.
Zaidi, who admitted his action in court on Tuesday, remains in custody pending an investigation by the judge. He could be sent for trial under a clause in Iraq's penal code that punishes anyone who tries to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.
Another game at http://bushbash.flashgressive.de, includes a leader board on which players can post their best scores.
An animated version -- "a shoe at Bush?" -- claims over 2.2 million direct hits since its December 15 start date.
Aother game called "Bush's Boot Camp" starts with an audio quote of Bush saying "those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere."
The White House, meanwhile, has said Bush has no hard feelings about the shoe-throwing incident.
"The president just thinks that, it was just a shoe, people express themselves in lots of different ways," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
