DUBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A shoe-throwing incident at an Iraqi news conference with George W. Bush has inspired an Internet game where the player hurls footwear at a moving target of the U.S. president.

The game, which has been circulated by email, gives players 30 seconds to try to hit Bush with a brown shoe as many times as possible, with the score appearing in the top left hand corner of the screen.

Players are greeted with the command: "OBJECTIVE: Hit President Bush in the face with your shoes! Do it!"

On-target shots are met with a message of congratulations: "Shoes have successfully hit President Bush in his face. Well done!"

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki can be seen peeping over a lectern next to Bush in the mock-up of the now-infamous joint news briefing on Sunday when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the president who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Television reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi became an instant sensation in the Arab world, where throwing shoes at someone is considered to be the ultimate insult.

Zaidi, who admitted his action in court on Tuesday, remains in custody pending an investigation by the judge. He could be sent for trial under a clause in Iraq's penal code that punishes anyone who tries to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.

Zaidi's family says he harboured deep anger against Bush, blaming him for the tens of thousands of Iraqis who died after the U.S.-led invasion unleashed a wave of sectarian and insurgent violence that has only now begun to die down.

Many ordinary Arabs opposed the U.S.-led invasion and blame Bush for the violence that followed.

The game appears on the site www.sockandawe.com -- a pun on "shock and awe", the term used by U.S. military officials to describe the initial air assault on Baghdad in 2003.

In the game, Bush turns purple and his face takes on a flummoxed look when the shoe strikes the target. (Writing by Lin Noueihed, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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