Actually, bengali in platforms, the "Saddam" thing is a lot more complicated than you'd think.
Saddam actually outlawed the use of traditional last names in Iraq, since they were markers of tribal affiliations moreso than families. His "real" last name wasn't Hussein, but something like "al-Tikriti". Hussein was actually his middle name, his father's first name.
Apparently, the first name designation for him is pretty standard throughout his part of the world.
You can read more about the issue here... just don't think it's a tabloid-only thing.
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On the other hand, only within the past couple years has the paper for which I write reversed the long-standing rule that, after the first, full-name reference, men were to be referred to by their last names and women by their first names. Maybe three years ago at most? |
