SHOE MISS YA, GEORGE; Dubya target of furious TV man's protest.

Byline: BY STEPHEN WHITE

THIS is the moment an angry protester sticks the boot in to outgoing president George Bush.

Dubya ducked as both shoes sailed high to the left of his head and smashed into the wall during his farewell trip to Iraq.

The room erupted into chaos but Mr Bush shrugged off the incident by joking: "All I can tell you is that they look like size 10s."

But he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had clearly heard the accompanying cry of: "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog" as Cairo-based Iraqi TV reporter Muntadar al-Zeidi flung the shoes from 20ft away.

Security officials wrestled al-Zeidi to the ground and hauled him out of the press conference in Baghdad. A trail of blood was left as he was dragged off. Shoe-throwing is considered an insult in many parts of the Middle East. When Saddam Hussain's statue was toppled in the capital, Iraqis celebrated by beating the effigy with their shoes.

But Mr Bush went on: "Don't worry about it. So what if the guy threw a shoe at me?"

He compared it to the action of political protests in the United States.

Bush's trip, 37 days before Barack Obama takes over, was made under strict security.

Well, he's a secretive sole, that Dubya.

CAPTION(S):

LAST FLING A furious reporter stands up and hurls his shoes at George Bush next to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The journalist was wrestled down before being dragged off by security men; FOOT SOLDIER One of the reporter's "size 10" shoes hurtles towards startled Dubya, who has to quickly duck down as it flies inches past his head