'Saddam' a popular new baby name in Thailand

SOME Muslims in Thailand have named their newborn babies Saddam Hussein following his capture by US forces in Iraq last weekend.

"He's a cross between a hero and a tyrant, but we choose to remember his good side," Rohcidee Lertariyapongkul, chairman of the Muslim Youth Association of Thailand, was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post.

"One way to do it is to let our babies bear his name."

Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, but its southernmost provinces are Muslim-dominated.

Some Thai Muslims don't believe the man captured near Tikrit, Iraq, and purported to be Saddam is really him, and dismiss the capture as US propaganda, Rohcidee said.

Navi Tohyor, a 36-year-old father from the southern province of Narathiwat, said he and his wife have named their newborn son Saddam.

"What Mr. Saddam did is right and legitimate," Mr Navi said. "He stood up against the US, the foreign invader. He's a fighter, not a bandit. I'm proud to name my son after him."

-- Arab Times

"He's a cross between a hero and a tyrant, but we choose to remember his good side," Rohcidee Lertariyapongkul, chairman of the Muslim Youth Association of Thailand, was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post.

"One way to do it is to let our babies bear his name."

"What Mr. Saddam did is right and legitimate," Mr Navi said. "He stood up against the US, the foreign invader. He's a fighter, not a bandit. I'm proud to name my son after him."

Well...what a shame, if I knew this sort of thing was going to become popular I might well have named my daughter Rose West, after all she was just kinky, not a mass murderess.

right?

I wonder what goes on in some peoples minds...

it has me boggled

Decided to look up the name meaning of Saddam - it comes from the Persian word meaning "crusher" (quite fitting really )