The judge investigating Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the notorious shoe-hurling Iraqi journalist, said today that he would find out who beat him after his interruption of President Bush’s Baghdad press conference.

Judge Dhia al-Kinani said he would discover who was responsible for the treatment meted out to the reporter who suffered a broken arm and ribs according to his brother.

The judge said that Mr al-Zeidi “was beaten in the news conference and we will watch the tape and write an official letter asking for the names of those who assaulted him”.

The journalist is still in custody after throwing his shoes at President Bush while he held a press conference with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister. He is expected to face charges of insulting a foreign leader, which could result in a two-year prison sentence.

Video of the assault by footwear, which has been viewed millions of times on the internet since Sunday, shows the reporter being bundled to the ground by men in dark suits. There had been conflicting claims on his condition since then but the judge confirmed today that he had at least sustained bruising.

Mr al-Kinani also confirmed that the journalist had written a letter of apology to Mr al-Maliki. Under the Iraqi constitution, the President can grant pardons that are requested by the Prime Minister. But the judge said such a pardon could be issued only after a conviction.

He added that he could not drop the case even though the Prime Minister “did not raise a complaint nor the American President Bush, but this case was filed because of an article in the law concerning the protection of the respect of sovereignty”.

A spokesman for Mr al-Maliki said that the letter contained a specific request for a pardon.

The judge said the investigation would be completed and sent to the criminal court on Sunday, after which a court date would be set within seven to 10 days.

In the five days since the incident, al-Zeidi has become a global folk hero. Thousands of Iraqis have demonstrated for his release and tributes have been made around the world.

Rais Yatim, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, congratulated the reporter today at an event marking the 63rd anniversary of the United Nations.

“That shoe throwing episode, in my view is truly the best Weapon of Mass Destruction to the leader who coined the phrase ‘axis of evil’,” he said.

In Iran, one of the members of that alleged axis, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati used this week’s Friday prayers to celebrate what he called the “Shoe intifada”. “This should be a role model,” he said.

In Washington, Sean McCormack, the US State Department spokesman, suggested that worldwide attention to the shoe throwing was overblown.

“We would hope that the fact of a US president standing next to a freely elected prime minister of Iraq who just happens to be Shia, who is governing in a multi-confessional, multiethnic democracy in the heart of the Middle East, is not overshadowed by one incident like this,” he said.

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