Iraqi shoe-thrower launches aid foundation

An Iraqi journalist who was jailed for throwing his shoes at US President George W. Bush on Monday launched a foundation to help Iraqi widows and orphans.

"I am making an appeal on behalf of my people and I announce the launch of a humanitarian foundation for my people," Muntazer al-Zaidi told journalists in Geneva.

"I am planning to help orphans, widows and the deported in priority. We want to build hospitals, medical centres, a centre to replace limbs of people handicapped by this war," he added.

A website has been created for the Al Zaidi Foundation, which already has a capital of 50,000 Swiss francs (33,021 euros/49,387 dollars), although Zaidi would only say that the funds came "from friends."

Zaidi criticised the war in Iraq, calling on the international community to bring those responsible for the war "led by George Bush" to justice.

According to official figures from Iraq's human rights ministry, more than 85,000 Iraqis died violently from 2004 to 2008.

The data did not include the number of dead and wounded in the immediate aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Independent British website www.iraqbodycount.org calculates that at least 93,540 people died in Iraq from the beginning of the war until August 2009.

Zaidi had filed a claim for asylum in Switzerland before deciding to withdraw it. He arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday on a tourist visa.