ER...JUST CALL ME ISMAEL

Saddam Hussein is alive and kicking in Baghdad and allowing his photograph to be taken with US troops.

But unlike his namesake -- the former Iraqi president ousted by US-led troops in April -- 31-year-old Saddam works as an ambulance man out of the capital's Al-Iskan hospital, where the dead and wounded from Thursday's car bombing at the Jordanian embassy were taken.

"Contrary to what one might think, to be called Saddam during Saddam's rule was not good," he said.

"I was even put in prison for four months in 1993 because I asked my friends to call me Ismael instead of Saddam."...

"When US soldiers see my name on my badge, they ask to have their photos taken with me. Of course, I do this with good grace," the young Saddam said.