An
Albanian street trader, Shqiprim Ilir, has confessed to taking George W Bush's
watch off his wrist during his recent street 'meet and greet', in an 'intense'
interview with this web site.
The
watch has since gone on sale in the streets of Tirana priced at the equivalent
of $30 in local currency, "for you $20 cash in dollar."
The
watch theft is being regarded as a triumph of pick pocketing even though the watch
was not in the president's pocket at the time it was taken.
Harold Guiver, Professor of Pick-pocketing, Harvard, told this web site:
"Whilst
you might think that you would have to pick a pocket to be a pick pocket, taking
a watch off an arm while the wearer is still wearing it is still referred to as
pick pocketing in many cultures in Europe. Yes, I know, it's an interesting academic
debate but I must away."
Sources
close to Bush claim that the president put the watch in his pocket and that the
watch was not taken off his arm at all.
Had
the watch been taken from the president's pocket this would be one of the biggest
breaches of presidential security since Ronald Regan was shot.
President
Bush's pockets are probably the most secure in the world, with at least one CIA
operative concentrating on each of his trouser pockets at any time.
The
president had removed his jacket which only left the shirt pocket which was empty.
The
Bush CIA security manual on meet and greets with crowds able to actually touch
him, has not been updated since January 2001 because its operational likelihood
was seen as 'remote'.
