Bin Laden masks become popular Halloween icon

While the United States hunts for the real Osama bin Laden, rubber-masked copies of the Western world’s most-hated terrorist are popping up at Halloween celebrations from Northern Ireland to Mexico.

While most Americans would shudder at such disguises, they’re perceived elsewhere as part of the tradition associated with this American import: shock, surprise, grim jokes.

In Mexico, the Caretas Rev costume-making company is offering a full-length costume of bin Laden for just $33 (stg£23), including a hand-painted rubber mask of the bearded Saudi exile.

‘‘For us, the masks are not offensive,’’ said Elizabeth Mendoza, a saleswoman for the costume company. ‘‘It’s all done with Mexican humour, as a joke.’’

The company is not exporting the masks to its neighbour to the north, however.

In Northern Ireland costume shops reported a brisk business in Arab-style costumes. Some shops said bin Laden masks were their most requested item, with George Bush masks trailing well behind.

Only one of 20 bin Laden masks - selling for $40 each - was left at a shop in downtown Belfast.

Most costume shops in Northern Ireland were peddling generic Middle Eastern garb, such as turbans, robes and beards.

‘‘It’s hard to have a drink in a bin Laden mask,’’ said James Elliott, owner of a costume shop in Belfast. ‘‘But we’ve had lots of requests for the Arab outfit.’’

In Brazil, bin Laden masks were being marketed for the increasingly popular Halloween holiday and were likely to re-emerge during Carnival celebrations in February.

Gilvan Jose dos Santos, a salesman at the Casa Turana costume store in downtown Rio de Janeiro, said that Bin Laden masks were by far the season’s most popular costume outselling Yasser Arafat and George Bush masks by about 20 to 1.

But Salim Khan, owner of the No 1 Costume Hire shop in Singapore, said bin Laden costumes were not a big draw.

‘‘It’s not a hot item,’’ Khan said. ‘‘The witch costume is still the most popular.’’

Salespeople at The House of Costumes in Singapore said they didn’t even bother stocking bin Laden costumes because there was no demand.

In Canada, trick-or-treaters were dressing up as policemen and firefighters to honour the uniformed officers who rescued victims or died in the attacks.

Police officer uniforms have been flying off the shelves, said Randy Scotland, a spokesman for the Retail Council of Canada, which represents 9,000 businesses.

‘‘I have one friend who’s dressing as a firefighter because of the incident on September 11, to honour them,’’ said 14-year-old Jason Dixon, of Montreal. ‘‘As a matter of fact, he says he wants to be a fireman someday.’’

Given the real-life horror associated with bin Laden and the September 11 terror attacks he is accused of planning, many people consider the costumes in bad taste, said Helmut Roloff, spokesman for Junior Toys in Carlow in northeastern Germany.

‘‘A lot of people would find it too raw or close to the bone,’’ agreed Colin Irwin, manager of the Harlequin Fancy Dress shop in Belfast.

Irwin said he has had fewer requests recently for bin Laden costumes, ‘‘probably as people run the idea past their friends who say it’s in really poor taste.’’

Randy Mikels, owner of the Halloween Gore Store in Munich, said it’s just as well he wasn’t able to get bin Laden masks as he had planned.

‘‘The German people are very conservative - if we had a bin Laden mask in our windows, they would break the windows,’’ Mikels said.