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Brazilian Couple File Suit to Name Son "Osama Bin Laden"
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Brazilian couple has announced they are filing a lawsuit to secure the right to name their new-born son "Osama Bin Laden Oliveira Soares," after the civil registry office refused to let them register the name, news agencies reported.
Osvaldo Oliveira Soares and Maria Aparecida vowed they will take the issue to the courts after social workers recommended that they choose another name due to the difficulty the name could cause for the boy in the future, according to Sao Paulo's
Jornal da Tarde daily newspaper, reported Spanish news agency EFE.
However, the couple has refused to opt for a different name.
Oliveira Soares expressed his admiration for Osama Bin Laden and noted that "he is a good person, not the terrorist the United States makes him out to be."
He added that his respect for the Saudi-born exiled millionaire originated when he was transferred to the Baghdad office of the Brazilian construction company for which he works.
While living in Iraq, Oliveira Soares traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but he denied ever having contact with the leader of the al-Qaeda network. The U.S. says bin Laden is the mastermind of the deadly September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
This is not the first time controversy has arisen over naming a child after bin Laden.
Last month, a Christian family from the Philippines also named their newborn baby, Osama. The infant's father, Nicolas Sivellejo, said he had named his son after bin Laden, in support of the Saudi dissident's anti-American stance.
In his town, the registrar there also tried to dissuade the 27-year-old Sivellejo from naming his son after his hero, bin Laden.
The baby was born on September 24th, 13 days after the attacks. Sivellejo said his first-born was named after his hero for showing the world that "America is not at all invincible."
Sivellejo, who is a devout Catholic, told local newspapers that he doesn't like the "American imperialists."
Another pro-bin Laden supporter in Malaysia almost named his baby boy, also born in September, after bin Laden. He was planning to name his son Usamah, but cancelled his plans, fearing reprisals.
Bin Laden's popularity is becoming noticed in the other Southeast Asian countries.
A few weeks ago, "Osama Bin Laden fever" gripped the region's majority Malay-Muslim population. It has now spread to cellular phones, with Short Messages (SMS) or WAP messages being sent to cellular phone users there.
Users of GSM and PCN hand-held devices have been flooded with a graphic representing a picture of bin Laden, with his name in Arabic written at the side of the picture. Other users received SMS or WAP messages with the words Allah O' Akbar ("God is Greatest") written under bin Laden's picture.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, young Malay-Javanese Muslims have been busy printing out t-shirts, caps and other banners with bin Laden's photograph. They say the items sell well, as most of the people in the city say they believe the Saudi-born dissident is innocent of the deadly September attacks on the U.S.
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