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In Arab culture, it is considered extremely insulting to point the soles of your feet toward someone. Symbolically, beating the statues or portraits of saddam with their shoes shows their contempt for the guy.
It is one of the strongest insults in the Arab world -- sticking the sole of your shoe in somebody's face, in a culture where the foot is considered the dirtiest part of the body. And flogging someone with your footwear, says Georgetown University Arab studies professor Samer Shehata, is a certain-sure symbol of disrespect.
So that explains why Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf said that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush "only deserve to be hit with shoes."