[kall]

A Romanian tabloid said on Monday it had fired a reporter for making up a story about a couple who named their son Yahoo as a sign of gratitude for meeting over the Internet.

Bucharest daily Libertatea published a story this month saying two Romanians had named their baby for the popular Web site and printed a picture of his birth certificate. The news was published internationally, including by Reuters.

"It was the reporter's child's birth certificate, which he modified," said Simona Ionescu, Libertatea's deputy editor-in-chief. "We fired him."

She said Ion Garnod, who had worked for the paper for several years, had admitted inventing the story to look good.

"If it were real, it would have been a good story indeed," Ionescu said.

Garnod was not available for comment.