U.S. Officials Deny Bush Lost Wristwatch in Albania

TIRANA, Albania – Whatever happened to the president's watch?

One moment President Bush was glad-handing Albanians on Sunday, proudly sporting a watch with a dark strap on his left wrist. Moments later, it was gone.

Click here to see photos of Bush before and after the watch disappeared.

Did it fall off? Did one of his bodyguards remove it? Or did one of the crowd artfully slip it off his wrist and pocket it?

Albanian media — and international Web sites — are buzzing over a video showing Bush's wrist watch apparently disappearing while he shakes hands with a jostling crowd of people in Fushe Kruje, 15 miles north of Tirana.

Click here to watch a YouTube video of the incident.

But White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush's watch was not stolen by someone in the crowd. "The president put it in his pocket and it returned safely home," Snow said Tuesday.

People waiting on the sidewalks Sunday gave Bush a rapturous welcome, shaking hands with him, grabbing him by the arms and wrists, reaching out to embrace him and even ruffling his hair.

Bush was clearly delighted by the attention and plunged back into the crowd for more hand shaking and to be kissed on the cheek.

An Albanian bodyguard who accompanied Bush in the town told The Associated Press he had seen one of his U.S. colleagues close to Bush bend down and pick up the watch from the ground.

The Top Channel private TV station showed how one of his bodyguards may have spoken with the president and then taken the watch from his hand.

Bush's visit to the tiny Balkan country, the first ever by a U.S. president, was considered as historic.

Albania issued three postage stamps with Bush's picture and the Statue of Liberty, renamed a street in front of parliament in his honor, awarded him the highest National Flag medal, and the Fushe Kruje town council declared him an honored citizen.