text: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi man who was jailed after throwing his shoes at then-President George W. Bush last year arrived in Syria on Tuesday night, hours after being released from prison, his employer said. 
  
  Muntadhar al-Zaidi speaks to reporters shorlty after his release from an Iraqi jail. 
  
  Al-Baghdadia TV said Muntadhar al-Zaidi had arrived in Damascus. 
  
  Al-Zaidi's brother, Dhirgham al-Zaidi, told CNN that the 30-year-old journalist was to travel in a private plane to Greece for medical treatment. 
  
  Shortly after he left prison, the 30-year-old journalist visited the studios of his employer, Al-Baghdadia TV, where he spoke to other reporters about his experience. He wore a sash in the colors of the Iraqi national flag draped around his shoulders. 
  
  Muntadhar al-Zaidi said he was beaten with cables and pipes and tortured with electricity immediately after guards removed him from a news conference for hurling both shoes at Bush. He said he was taken into another room and beaten even as the news conference continued. 
  
  However, he remained defiant about the incident that landed him in prison. 
  
  "I got my chance, and I didn't miss it," he said. 
  
  "I am not a hero, and I admit that," he added. "I am a person with a stance. I saw my country burning." 
  
  Al-Zaidi, who was serving a one-year sentence after the jail-throwing incident December 14, was given a "conditional discharge." 
  
  Under Iraqi law, a "conditional discharge" allows for the release of a prisoner after he serves three-quarters of his sentence, on good behavior. Watch more about al-Zaidi's release » 