- DUBLIN: Protesters hurled shoes and eggs Saturday at Tony Blair who held the first public signing of his memoir amid high security in Ireland's capital.
- Blair's new book, “A Journey,” is a best-seller, but it has angered opponents of his policies, especially the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
About 200 demonstrators waved placards with slogans such as "Blair lied, millions died" and "Lock him up for genocide" as the former prime minister arrived at a Dublin bookstore. Shoes, eggs and other projectiles were thrown toward Blair as he emerged from a car, but did not hit him.
Blair spent about two hours in the store before emerging to more shouts, boos and hurled eggs. He was quickly driven away.
The trend of throwing shoes at political leaders was started by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar Al-Zeidi when he hurled both his shoes at US President George W. Bush at a Baghdad press conference in 2008.
More recently, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the chief minister of Indian-ruled Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, were at the receiving end of such dubious honor. In all cases, the throwers proved poor marksmen.