CAMBRIDGE (AFP) — A protester who threw a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at Cambridge University on Monday surrendered peacefully, police and security staff said.
The Western-looking man could face charges of committing a public order offence after mimicking the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush protest in December.
"He didn't resist at all. We ushered him out and he went peacefully," said one of the constables, or university police, who ushered the young man out of the hall after the protester interrupted Wen as he made a speech on the last day of a five-nation European tour.
A proctor -- an official responsible for university discipline -- added: "When he stood up and started making his protest, the proctors asked him to stop shouting and sit down.
"He continued, took off a shoe and then threw it towards the stage. The constables got to him and took him out. The shouting was legitimate protest but throwing a shoe is something different," the proctor told AFP.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of committing a public order offence, but gave no further details.
A University of Cambridge spokesman told AFP: "The incident was extremely regrettable, but didn't spoil the event. Our university is a place for debate, discussion and considered argument, not for shoe throwing."
On the identity of the protester, he added: "This was an isolated individual.
"There was no serious threat to anybody at any time. We can't confirm or deny the identity of the individual concerned until we've heard from the police about it," he said.
Muntazer al-Zaidi, 29, secured instant international fame by throwing both of his shoes at Bush during the US president's farewell visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world.
The Al-Baghdadia television journalist faces charges of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit." Bush was not hit by the flying shoes, but if convicted, Zaidi faces up to 15 years in jail.
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