Baghdad  - Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who famously threw his shoes at then-US President George W Bush, will be released from prison Tuesday, his lawyer said.

"We have completed all procedures, and we will see al-Zaidi's release today," Diyaa al-Saadi, head of al-Zaidi's legal team, told reporters in Baghdad.

A massive celebration has been planned to greet the journalist's release.

Al-Zaidi had been scheduled to be released after serving nine months in prison on Monday, but paperwork delayed his release, his employer, the al-Baghdadia satellite channel, reported.

The reporter was initially sentenced to three years in prison for hurling his shoes at Bush at a December news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, but that sentence was subsequently reduced to one year on appeal.

His sentence was subsequently further reduced to nine months for good behaviour.

After images of al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at Bush and screaming, "This is a farewell kiss from Iraqis, you dog" were beamed across the region, he became a hero in Iraq and across the Arab world.

Iraqis erected a giant statue of a golden shoe in his honour. Libyan leader Moamer al-Gadhafi said he would bestow his country's highest honour, the Libyan Medal of Honour, on al-Zaidi. The emir of Qatar promised him a golden horse. (dpa)