Iraqi shot after throwing slipper at troops - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Iraqi shot after throwing slipper at troops

FALLUJAH, Iraq — American Marines shot and wounded an Iraqi man in the former flashpoint city of Fallujah believing he was throwing a grenade at them, the U.S. military said Thursday — but local police and witnesses said the object was only the man’s slipper.

During a joint patrol of Marines and Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the man “threw an object, believed to be a grenade” at the passing troops Wednesday afternoon, according to a U.S. military statement.

“U.S. forces fired in self-defense, wounding the attacker,” the military said. “The convoy stopped, secured the area and began to render medical aid.”

The man, Ahmed al-Jumaili, was rushed to a local hospital and was in stable condition there Thursday after being treated for a chest wound and two bullet grazes.

Although the incident came just a day after the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush was released from prison, al-Jumaili said he took off his leather slipper and threw it in a knee-jerk reaction to seeing the patrol.

“When I saw Americans patrolling the streets of Fallujah, I lost my temper — I don’t want to see them in Fallujah,” he told The Associated Press. “Troops have withdrawn from cities so why they still patrolling here in Fallujah?”

Under the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, American forces ceased operating on their own in cities and towns earlier this summer but still go on joint patrols. The agreement calls for the withdrawal of American combat forces by the end of August 2010 and of all U.S. troops by the end of the following year.

The U.S. military did not say in its statement what the thrown object was, and in response to a request for clarification said the object had not been recovered.

“The Marines who saw the object thrown at the vehicle identified it as a grenade,” spokeswoman 1st Lt. Rachel Beatty said. “Because the suspected grenade was not recovered, we do not know why it had failed to function.”

However, a Fallujah police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the press, said al-Jumaili had only thrown his slipper.

Shopkeeper Ammar Hussein, who knows al-Jumaili, said he witnessed the incident.

“I saw him throw his shoe while the U.S. soldier was looking at him,” Hussein said, adding that the act was out of character for al-Jumaili. “He was always so calm, I never saw him behaving strangely.”

Al-Jumaili, a 30-year-old auto mechanic, said he ran after throwing his slipper, but he was slowed after a bullet grazed his leg.

“More bullets were fired and one hit me from behind and went through my chest, and I fell down,” he said from the hospital, surrounded by his mother and other family members.

The U.S. military said the Marines’ response was “done in compliance with the security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq, which authorizes U.S. forces to take appropriate action in self-defense.”