Saddam death video moves Indians to rename village

[John Muir]

Saddam death video moves Indians to rename village


KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Thousands of Muslims in impoverished eastern India want to rename their village after former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein following his execution, officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.

Residents of Lahona in Bihar state have petitioned the government to change the name of the village to "Saddam Hussein Lahona".

"Everybody was in tears when they saw the execution on television and heard that he was taunted," Mohammed Murshid Alam, a local leader in Lahona, told Reuters.

Many of India's Muslims, the majority of them Sunni, have protested in the streets since Saddam was hanged on December 30.

Video footage showed observers taunting the former Iraqi leader before he was hanged.

"We felt his hanging was unjustified and wanted to honor Saddam, who fought like a tiger against the Americans," said Suraj Yadav by phone from the village, about 315 kilometers (200 miles) east of the capital, Patna.

In many states, including Bihar, many Muslim parents named their children Saddam Hussein after the Americans bombed Baghdad in 1991.

At least two families in Lahona have named their son Saddam Hussein in the past few months, Yadav added.