2010-10-26 09:59

SYDNEY - A man protesting the Iraq war hurled his shoes at Australia's former prime minister during a live TV show, mimicking the shoe-throwing protest aimed at former President George W. Bush in Baghdad two years ago.

Peter Gray flung his shoes at John Howard, a key Bush ally on the Iraq war, on Monday after demanding the former leader defend his decision to send 2,000 troops to support the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"That's for the Iraqi dead!" Gray shouted as he lobbed the shoes at Howard during the Australian Broadcasting Corp's live "Q&A" program. The shoes missed their target, and Gray was escorted from the studio.

The protest, shown repeatedly on Australian morning TV programs Tuesday, echoed a similar incident in 2008, when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at then-President Bush during a press conference in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Howard had a close relationship with Bush, and Australia was one of the first countries to commit troops to Iraq.

During the ABC broadcast, Howard was forced repeatedly to defend his support of the Iraq war.

"I thought it was justified," Howard said. "I think there were errors made after the military operation ended. I think there were too few troops and I think a mistake was made in disbanding the Iraqi army. But I will continue to defend ... the original decision on the basis on which it was taken."

At that point, Gray stood up and threw his shoes at Howard. Another woman yelled, "You've got blood on your hands!" at Howard as she followed Gray out of the studio.

Howard laughed the incident off during the program, telling the show's host, "Forget it, forget it," and joked about the protest in an interview the next morning.

"Is anyone here taking their shoes off? I'm looking around," Howard told Macquarie Radio on Tuesday. "All in a night's work."

Gray said his actions were justified.

"I did it so there was a chance that thousands of people, tens of thousands of people, in the rest of the world, particularly in the Middle East, could see that not every Australian was behind the decision to invade and rule in the country of Iraq," Gray told ABC on Tuesday. "I did it for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dead and those that are still living."

During the program, Howard was also confronted by Australian David Hicks, the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to plead guilty to a terrorism offense. Critics accused Howard of allowing Hicks to languish at Guantanamo for years without a trial, and Hicks claimed he was tortured at the detention center.

Hicks, an ex-kangaroo skinner and Outback cowboy, appeared on the show via video link and challenged Howard on whether he believed his treatment at Guantanamo had been humane.

"David Hicks trained with the Taliban," Howard replied. "David Hicks was associated with groups that were behaving in a manner that was completely opposed to the interests of this country."