A Saudi man has offered to pay $10 million (about Rs 50 crore) for the pair of shoes that an Iraqi journalist hurled at US President George W Bush during a press conference in Baghdad.
Mohamed Makhafa, a retired school teacher, says he considers the size 10s a "medal of freedom and more valuable than everything he owns", Al Jazeera news channel reported.
Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who became a hero overnight in the Arab world, had thrown his shoes at President Bush during a joint press conference of the US leader with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Monday.
"It is more precious than all my property. I will bequeath it to my children and display it in a museum and call it the Medal of Freedom," Makhafa told AlArabiya.net. Makhafa said the combined value of the land and property he owns exceeds the price he is offering for Zaidi's shoes, adding if the journalist's lawyer manages to reclaim the infamous pair he will buy them.
Makhafa said he does not look at it from a commercial point of view and said his offer was the start of an auction. The 60-year-old stressed that he does not hold a grudge against the US, but said he hates its foreign policies that have humiliated the Muslims. Announcing his offer on the Internet, Makhafa, an activist who has raised voice on various issues, said tribesmen and public figures in the Arab world had expressed their support and many showed interest in taking part in the auction.
