Baghdad  - The Iraqi journalist who famously threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush wept in court on Thursday when informed that two of his colleagues had died in a bomb attack on Tuesday.

Montadher al-Zaidi, a 30-year-old journalist for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya television station, wept when told that a cameraman and a reporter from the station were among more than 30 people killed in a bombing in the Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad on Tuesday.

In his appearance at the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad's "Green Zone" on Thursday, al-Zaidi plead "not guilty" to charges of assaulting a foreign head of state.

Al-Zaidi, whose act made him an instant hero in Iraq and across the Arab world, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The first session of al-Zaidi's trial in February was quickly adjourned so judges could determine whether the former US president had been on Iraq on a state visit. (dpa)