A boy named bin Laden

Little Osama

Reading the Sunday papers on Saturday yields this oriental puff-piece in the Bangkok Post Sunday edition: Future beckons for young bin Laden.

Acouple in Pattani who named their only son ``bin Laden'' after the Saudi-born fugitive say they hope he will grow up as ``smart'' as the man being hunted by the US in connection with the devastating attacks on New York and Washington on Sept 11, 2001. The boy, now four, was born on the day of the terror attacks which Osama bin Laden is accused of plotting.

Ibrohim Jae-rong, 43, a villager of Panarae district, said the district office refused to register his choice of name, and urged the family to switch to Nuruddin. But the boy is bin Laden to his family and neighbours, he said.

``The district officer tried to convince me the name was inappropriate as bin Laden was a terrorist,'' he said.

However, the rubber plantation owner said his family does not care about that. To them, the fugitive is a hero.

``To me, he's not a terrorist. He is the most powerful man,'' said Mr Ibrohim. He said he believed the older bin Laden was a good man who had devoted his life to fighting the US. ``In my opinion, America is not a good nation for it interferes with other countries. I share with other Muslims in the deep South a love and admiration for bin Laden,'' he said.

Little bin Laden's mother added that, "Before he was born, I dreamed of Allah. He gave me a big, beautiful necklace." She wants her only son to be a good man, she says. In your dreams, says I.