The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush asked Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to forgive him, according to media reports on Thursday, dpa reported.
During a press conference with Bush and al-Maliki on Sunday, Montazer al-Ziadi threw his shoes at the visiting US leader while shouting in Arabic: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."
Al-Arabiya news channel reported that al-Zaidi expressed his regret for his "ugly action" and asked al-Maliki to pardon him "like a son asking his father for forgiveness."
"I have interviewed you in the summer of 2005 and I remember you told me to come back any time, and I plead for this fatherly kindness in you," read the plea.
Al-Ziadi, who has worked for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya since 2005, is being tried at the Iraqi Criminal Court and will face seven to 10 years behind bars if found guilty of "aggression against a president."
Throwing shoes at someone is a grave insult among Arabs.
The 29-year-old reporter's case opened in Baghdad on Wednesday, without him being present.
Arabs all over the region have expressed their support of al-Zaidi and many of them have protested his imprisonment. Others hailed him as "a hero" and a "brave man." Clips of him hurling the shoes and Bush ducking to escape the projectiles have been repeatedly shown on television.