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French prosecutor to decide whether parents can name son 'Jihad'

The French public prosecutor's office in the southern city of Toulouseis to decide on whether the parents of a baby boy are legally entitled to name him Jihad, a phonetic spelling from the Arabic meaning "struggle" and which has become a common term adopted by Islamic fundamentalists engaged in terrorist attacks, which have claimed more than 230 lives in France over the past two years.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Is it acceptable to name your baby "Jihad" in France, which has suffered Europe's worst Islamist terror attacks in recent years? France's chief prosecutor now has to wrestle with that question after a couple's chosen name for their son was referred by authorities in Toulouse, reports BBC News.

In turn, the French judge for family issues may have to rule on the case.

"Jihad" in Arabic means "effort" or "struggle", not specifically "holy war".

French law does not restrict parents' name choices for their children, provided a name does not harm the child's interests and is not opposed by other family members on reputational grounds.

The Toulouse boy called "Jihad" was born in August. Previously, other boys have been allowed to keep that name in France.

The term "jihadists" is commonly used to describe Islamist militants, such as those who carry out terror attacks in the name of so-called Islamic State (IS).

Since the start of 2015, Islamist militants have killed more than 230 people in France, where a state of emergency remains in force.

In 2013 a mother in the French city of Nimes was given a one-month suspended jail term and a 2,000-euro fine after sending her three-year-old boy called Jihad to school in a T-shirt bearing the words "I am a bomb" and "Jihad, born on 11 September".

Read more of this report from BBC News.