Belgium put up for sale on eBay

Shown on a computer screen is the Belgian site of ebay which highlights the country of Belgium for sale with a bid of euro10 million (US$ 13.8 million) in Belgium, Tuesday Sept. 18, 2007. Hidden among the porcelain fox hounds and Burberry tablecloths on sale at eBay.be this week was an unusual item: "For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts" ... free premium: the king and his court (costs not included).'

The odd ad was posted by one disgruntled Belgian in protest at his country's political crisis, which reached a 100-day landmark on Tuesday with no end in sight to the squabbling between Flemish and Walloon politicians.

Fed up with a three-month political standoff, a Belgian teacher Gerrit Six posted an ad on the online auction site: "For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court [costs not included]."

"I wanted to attract attention.You almost have to throw a rock through a window to get attention for Belgium," Six said.

Six decided to vent his frustration through the ad.

"My proposal was to make it clear that Belgium was valuable, it's a masterpiece and we have to keep it.It's my country and I'm taking care of it, and with me are millions of Belgians," he told Associated Press Television News.

EBay was happy to take the advertisement.

"It was a really fun listing made by a Belgian.This person, in a very funny way, reminded the Belgians what a great country Belgium actually is and it would be a shame to sell it,"Peter Burin, public relations manager of eBay Belgium said.

However, the company decided to pull the ad Tuesday after receiving a bid of $14 million.

"We decided to take it down, just to avoid confusion," Burin said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119025234513933379.html?mod=googlenews_wsj