Notorious shoes thrown at Bush, creates 100 jobs!

London, Dec 22: The black leather shoes, which the Iraqi journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi threw at George Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, has created 100 new jobs. The world's most notorious pair of shoes has yielded an unexpected bonanza for its Turkish manufacturer.

Ever since the incident took place, Ramazan Baydan, owner of the Istanbul-based Baydan Shoe Company, has been flooded with orders from across the world.

Baydan has hired an extra 100 staff to meet orders for 300,000 pairs of Model 271 - more than four times the shoe's normal annual sale - following an outpouring of support for Zaidi's act, which was intended as a protest, but led to his arrest by Iraqi security forces.

He said that orders have come mainly from the US and Britain, and from neighbouring Muslim countries.

Around 120,000 pairs have been ordered from Iraq, while a US company has placed a request for 18,000.

A British firm is understood to have offered to serve as European distributor for the shoes, which have been on the market since 1999 and sell at around 28 pounds in Turkey.

A sharp increase in demand has been recorded in Syria, Egypt and Iran, where the main shoemaker's federation has offered to provide Zaidi and his family with a lifetime's supply of shoes.

Looking at the demand, Baydan is also considering renaming the model "the Bush Shoe" or "Bye-Bye Bush".

"We've been selling these shoes for years but, thanks to Bush, orders are flying in like crazy. We've even hired an agency to look at television advertising," the Guardian quoted him, as saying. (ANI)