GENEVA — A Swiss lawyer working on behalf of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush said today his client will seek political asylum in Switzerland.

Geneva-based lawyer Mauro Poggia said Muntadhar al-Zeidi's life is in danger if he stays in Iraq.

Al-Zeidi has been detained in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial since he was seized by guards after his Dec. 14 outburst at a joint news conference in Baghdad by Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"He is in danger over there," Poggia said. "He's also in danger in other Muslim countries because people who support his action could try to make him a martyr."

Al-Zeidi's gesture of anger at Bush turned the employee of a minor TV station into a national hero to many Iraqis fed up with America's six-year presence in the country. But concern has been raised about his safety after allegations he had been severely beaten and tortured in detention.

BANGKOK, Thailand — An Australian writer was sentenced today to three years in prison for insulting Thailand's royal family in his novel, a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy.Bangkok's Criminal Court sentenced Harry Nicolaides to six years behind bars but reduced the term because he had entered a guilty plea, the judge said.Nicolaides, a 41-year-old from Melbourne, was charged with insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the crown prince in his 2005 book "Verisimilitude," a piece of fiction that only sold seven copies.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's state television said the government dismantled an alleged U.S.-backed spy network that was seeking to topple the country's Islamic regime.Today's report quotes an unnamed intelligence official as saying the main members of the network have been identified and detained.The official, identified as the general director of the counterespionage section of Iran's Intelligence Ministry, said the CIA spent about $32 million on the plot.Iran's official news agency reported Saturday a Tehran court sentenced four Iranians to jail for trying to overthrow the government with the alleged support of the U.S.