Farris Hassan’s not-so-excellent adventure
U.S. teen goes to Iraq to see ‘struggle between good and evil’
By Jason Straziuso
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:44 a.m. ET Dec. 30, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare.
But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation.
And he didn’t even tell his parents.
Hassan’s dangerous adventure winds down with the 101st Airborne delivering the Fort Lauderdale teen to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which had been on the lookout for him and promises to see him back to the United States this weekend.
It begins with a high school class on “immersion journalism” and one overly eager — or naively idealistic — student who’s lucky to be alive after going way beyond what any teacher would ask.
Diving in headfirst
As a junior this year at a Pine Crest School, a prep academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, Hassan studied writers like John McPhee — a writer who lives the life of his subject in order to better understand it — in the book “The New Journalism,” an introduction to immersion journalism.
Diving headfirst into an assignment, Hassan, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, hung out at a local mosque. The teen, who says he has no religious affiliation, added that he even spent an entire night until 6 a.m. talking politics with a group of Muslim men, a level of “immersion” his teacher characterized as dangerous and irresponsible.
The next trimester his class was assigned to choose an international topic and write editorials about it, Hassan said. He chose the Iraq war and decided to practice immersion journalism there, too, though he knows his school in no way endorses his travels.
“I thought I’d go the extra mile for that — or rather, a few thousand miles,” he told the Associated Press.
Destination: Baghdad
Using money his parents had given him, he bought a $900 plane ticket and took off from school a week before Christmas vacation started, skipping classes and leaving the country on Dec. 11.
His goal: Baghdad. Those privy to his plans: two high school buddies.
Given his heritage, Hassan could almost pass as Iraqi. His father’s background helped him secure an entry visa, and native Arabs would see in his face Iraqi features and a familiar skin tone. His wispy beard was meant to help him blend in.
An American teen
But underneath that Mideast veneer was full-blooded American teen, a born-and-bred Floridian sporting white Nike tennis shoes and trendy jeans. And as soon as the lanky, 6-foot teenager opened his mouth — he speaks no Arabic — his true nationality would have betrayed him.
Traveling on his own in a land where insurgents and jihadists have kidnapped more than 400 foreigners, killing at least 39 of them, Hassan walked straight into a death zone. On Monday, his first full day in Iraq, six vehicle bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing five people and wounding more than 40.
The State Department strongly advises U.S. citizens against traveling to Iraq, saying it “remains very dangerous.” Forty American citizens have been kidnapped since the war started in March 2003, of which 10 have been killed, a U.S. official said. About 15 remain missing.
“Travel warnings are issued for countries that are considered especially dangerous for Americans, and one of the strongest warnings covers travel to Iraq,” said Elizabeth Colton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Colton said the embassy’s consular section can provide only limited help to Americans in Iraq, though once officials learn of a potentially dangerous situation every effort is made to assist.
Inside the safety of Baghdad’s Green Zone, an Embassy official from the Hostage Working Group talked to Hassan about how risky travel is in Iraq.
“This place is incredibly dangerous to individual private American citizens, especially minors, and all of us, especially the military, went to extraordinary lengths to ensure this youth’s safety, even if he doesn’t acknowledge it or even understand it,” a U.S. official who wasn’t authorized to speak to the media said on condition of anonymity.
Eight time zones
Hassan’s extra-mile attitude took him east through eight time zones, from Fort Lauderdale to Kuwait City. His plan was to take a taxi across the border and ultimately to Baghdad — an unconventional, expensive and utterly dangerous route.
It was in Kuwait City that he first called his parents to tell them of his plans — and that he was now in the Middle East.
His mother, Shatha Atiya, a psychologist, said she was “shocked and terrified.” She had told him she would take him to Iraq, but only after the country stabilizes.
“He thinks he can be an ambassador for democracy around the world. It’s admirable but also agony for a parent,” Atiya said.
Attempting to get into Iraq, Hassan took a taxi from Kuwait City to the border 55 miles away. He spoke English at the border and was soon surrounded by about 15 men, a scene he wanted no part of. On the drive back to Kuwait City, a taxi driver almost punched him when he balked at the fee.
“In one day I probably spent like $250 on taxis,” he said. “And they’re so evil too, because they ripped me off, and when I wouldn’t pay the ripped-off price they started threatening me. It was bad.”
Elections at the right time
It could have been worse — the border could have been open.
As luck would have it, the teenager found himself at the Iraq-Kuwait line sometime on Dec. 13, and the border security was extra tight because of Iraq’s Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. The timing saved him from a dangerous trip.
“If they’d let me in from Kuwait, I probably would have died,” he acknowledged. “That would have been a bad idea.”
He again called his father, who told him to come home. But the teen insisted on going to Baghdad. His father advised him to stay with family friends in Beirut, Lebanon, so he flew there, spending 10 days before flying to Baghdad on Christmas.
His ride at Baghdad International Airport, arranged by the family friends in Lebanon, dropped him off at an international hotel where Americans were staying.
‘I should probably be going’
He says he only strayed far from that hotel once, in search of food. He walked into a nearby shop and asked for a menu. When no menu appeared, he pulled out his Arabic phrase book, and after fumbling around found the word “menu.” The stand didn’t have one. Then a worker tried to read some of the English phrases.
“And I’m like, ‘Well, I should probably be going.’ It was not a safe place. The way they were looking at me kind of freaked me out,” he said.
It was mid-afternoon on Tuesday, after his second night in Baghdad, that he sought out editors at AP and announced he was in Iraq to do research and humanitarian work. AP staffers had never seen an unaccompanied teenage American walk into their war zone office. (“I would have been less surprised if little green men had walked in,” said editor Patrick Quinn.)
Wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt in addition to his jeans and sneakers, Hassan appeared eager and outgoing but slightly sheepish about his situation.
The AP quickly called the U.S. Embassy. Officials there had been on the lookout for Hassan, at the request of his parents, who still weren’t sure exactly where he was. One U.S. military officer said he was shocked the teen was still alive. The 101st Airborne lieutenant who picked him up from the hotel said it was the wildest story he’d ever heard.
Hassan accepted being turned over to authorities as the safest thing to do, but seemed to accept the idea more readily over time.
Most of Hassan’s wild tale could not be corroborated, but his larger story arc was in line with details provided by friends and family members back home.
Tea in the desert
Dangerous and dramatic, Hassan’s trip has also been educational. He had tea with Kuwaitis under a tent in the middle of a desert. He says he interviewed Christians in south Lebanon. And he said he spoke with U.S. soldiers guarding his Baghdad hotel who told him they are treated better by Sunni Arabs — the minority population that enjoyed a high standing under Saddam Hussein and are now thought to fuel the insurgency — than by the majority Shiites.
His father, Redha Hassan, a doctor, said his son is an idealist, principled and moral. Aside from the research he wanted to accomplish, he also wrote in an essay saying he wanted to volunteer in Iraq.
He said he wrote half the essay while in the United States, half in Kuwait, and e-mailed it to his teachers Dec. 15 while in the Kuwait City airport.
“There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction,” he wrote.
“Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice’s call for help. Unfortunately, altruism is always in short supply. Not enough are willing to set aside the material ambitions of this transient world, put morality first, and risk their lives for the cause of humanity. So I will.”
“I want to experience during my Christmas the same hardships ordinary Iraqis experience everyday, so that I may better empathize with their distress,” he wrote.
Gained: ‘A new appreciation’
Farris Hassan thinks a trip to the Middle East is a healthy vacation compared with a trip to Colorado for holiday skiing.
“You go to, like, the worst place in the world and things are terrible,” he said. “When you go back home you have such a new appreciation for all the blessing you have there, and I’m just going to be, like, ecstatic for life.”
His mother, however, sees things differently. “I don’t think I will ever leave him in the house alone again,” she said. “He showed a lack of judgment.”
Hassan may not mind, at least for a while. He now understands how dangerous his trip was, that he was only a whisker away from death.
His plans on his return to Florida: “Kiss the ground and hug everyone.”
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Florida Teen Leaves Home, Goes To Help In IraqCreated: 12/29/2005 4:30:00 PMUpdated: 12/30/2005 11:03:36 AM
BC-Iraq-American Teen, 5th Ld-Writethru,0929 Florida teen heads home after odyssey to parents' homeland -- Iraq Eds: LEADS throughout with mother's response to news of teen's departure from Iraq. Updates contributor line. AP Photos BAG109-110, FLLS101 By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A 16-year-old from Florida who traveled to Iraq on his own without telling his parents was put on a flight home Friday, the U.S. Embassy said, while warning Americans of the dangers of undertaking similar journeys.
Farris Hassan, of Fort Lauderdale, had been under the care of the U.S. Embassy after being on his own in Iraq for several days.
"I am very pleased to announce that the young American citizen who has been in Iraq the past few days has now safely departed Baghdad, and this young American is now on his way back home to his family in the United States," Consul General Richard B. Hermann said.
Hermann reiterated warnings by the State Department and embassy against traveling to Iraq and said Americans in Iraq should register their presence. Forty American citizens have been kidnapped since the war started in March 2003, of which 10 have been killed, a U.S. official said. About 15 remain missing.
The U.S. Embassy had no immediate information about Hassan's flight, but his mother, Shatha Atiya, said she was happy to hear of his departure.
"I'm going to hug him. He's my little angel," she said Friday. "I'm exhausted, I'm very anxious. I'm grateful he's out of Iraq."
Hassan, a junior at Pine Crest School, a prep academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, recently studied immersion journalism -- a writer who lives the life of his subject in order to better understand it.
The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, says he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through.
"I thought I'd go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles," he told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this week.
Skipping a week of school, he left the country on Dec. 11, telling only two high school friends of his plans. His travels took him to Kuwait and Lebanon before he arrived in Iraq on Christmas Day. He left without telling his family and sent an e-mail after his departure, Atiya said.
"He is very idealistic. He has many convictions. He is very pro-democracy, very compassionate, always helping out others, he's very driven," Atiya said. "Those are more characteristics of Farris than adventurous. This is the first adventure he's been on."
The teen traveled to Kuwait, where a taxi dropped him in the desert at the Iraq border, but he could not cross there because of tightened security ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary elections on Dec. 15. He went to Beirut, Lebanon, to stay with family friends, and flew from there to Baghdad.
After his second night in Baghdad, he contacted the AP and said he had come to do research and humanitarian work. The AP called the U.S. Embassy, which sent U.S. soldiers to pick him up.
State Department officials then notified his parents.
Atiya said she has a 60-year-old brother in Iraq, but that she had refused when her son recently pestered her for his number. She said she offered to take her son to Iraq later, when tensions eased.
"I thought that would be sufficient for him, but he took it upon himself to do this adventure. He has a lot of confidence, but I never thought he would be able to pull this together," she said.
Hassan does not speak Arabic and has no experience in war zones, but he wanted to find out what life was like there.
Atiya said her son is studious, works on the school newspaper and is on the debate team. He is a member of a Republican Party club at school who spends his time reading, rather than socializing, his mother said.
When school officials learned of Hassan's trip, they threatened to expel him, but Atiya and Hassan's father, Redha Hassan, a physician, persuaded officials to allow him to remain, Atiya said. It was not immediately clear why they wanted to expel him.
Julie Schiedegger, who teaches English at Pine Crest, said Friday that she learned Hassan was headed to Iraq about two weeks ago when she overheard some students talking about it.
"He is very bright, friendly, respectful, just a good kid," she said.
Michael Buckwald, a 17-year-old classmate, said Hassan immerses himself in subjects that he likes and was opinionated in class.
"He always struck me as a very intellectual person. He's very outspoken at the same time," Buckwald said.
Hassan is the youngest of Atiya's four children. The others are enrolled at universities.
Aside from the research he wanted to accomplish, he also wrote in an essay saying he wanted to volunteer in Iraq.
He said he wrote half the essay while in the United States, half in Kuwait, and e-mailed it to his teachers Dec. 15 while in the Kuwait City airport.
"There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction," he wrote.
Hassan told AP he understood how dangerous his trip was. He'd said that his plans on his return to Florida were to "kiss the ground and hug everyone."
Excepts from an essay written recently by Farris Hassan, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who traveled to Iraq without telling his parents:
There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction. You are aware of the heinous acts of the terrorists: Women and children massacred, innocent aid workers decapitated, indiscriminate murder. You are also aware of the heroic aspirations of the Iraqi people: liberty, democracy, security, normality. Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice's call for help ... So I will.
Life is not about money, fame, or power. Life is about combating the forces of evil in the world, promoting justice, helping the misfortunate, and improving the welfare of our fellow man. Progress requires that we commit ourselves to such goals. We are not here on Earth to hedonistically pleasure ourselves, but to serve each other and the creator. What deed is greater than sacrificing one's luxuries for the benefit of those less blessed? ...
I know I can't do much. I know I can't stop all the carnage and save the innocent. But I also know I can't just sit here ...
I feel guilty living in a big house, driving a nice car, and going to a great school. I feel guilty hanging out with friends in a cafDe without the fear of a suicide bomber present. I feel guilty enjoying the multitude of blessings, which I did nothing to deserve, while people in Iraq, many of them much better then me, are in terrible anguish. This inexorable guilt I feel transforms into a boundless empathy for the distress of the misfortunate and into a compassionate love for my fellow man ...
Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless the one who gives them.
Going to Iraq will broaden my mind. We kids at Pine Crest (School) live such sheltered lives. I want to experience during my Christmas the same hardships ordinary Iraqis experience everyday, so that I may better empathize with their distress. I also want to immerse myself in their environment in order to better comprehend the social and political elements ...
I plan on doing humanitarian work with the Red Cross. I will give my mind, body, and spirit to helping Iraqis rebuild their lives. Hopefully I will get the chance to build houses, distribute food supplies, and bring a smile or two to some poor children.
I know going to Iraq will be incredibly risky. There are thousands of people there that desperately want my head. There are millions of people there that mildly prefer my demise merely because I am American. Nevertheless, I will go there to love and help my neighbor in distress, if that endangers my life, so be it ...
If I know what is needed and what is right, but do not act on my moral conscience, I would be a hypocrite. I must do what I say decent individuals should do. I want to live my days so that my nights are not full of regrets. Therefore, I must go.
__________
Associated Press writers Denise Kalette, Damian Grass and Kelli Kennedy contributed to this report from Florida.
Timeline of U.S. teen’s solitary journey to Iraq
A timeline of the travels of Farris Hassan, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who went to Iraq without telling his parents:
Dec. 11 — Departs Miami International Airport, cutting a week of school.
Dec. 12 — Gets connection in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Dec. 13 — Lands in Kuwait City at 12:05 a.m. Tells parents for first time he plans to go to Baghdad. Reaches the Kuwait-Iraq border by taxi but cannot cross because of tight security before Iraq’s parliamentary election.
Dec. 15 — Flies to Beirut, Lebanon, and stays with family friends. Spends time interviewing minority Christians.
Dec. 25 — Flies to Baghdad International Airport, where family contacts pick him up and drop him off at a hotel known to house Americans.
Dec. 27 — Walks into the offices of The Associated Press. AP contacts U.S. Embassy.
Dec. 28 — Members of 101st Airborne drive him to embassy, which takes custody of him.
Sometime this weekend — Scheduled to fly from Baghdad to Beirut to Kuwait City to the United States, eventually landing in Miami.
U.S. teen leaves Baghdad for home
Secret trip ends with military escort out of war-torn country
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A 16-year-old from Florida who traveled to one of the world’s most dangerous places without telling his parents left Baghdad on Friday to begin his journey home, the U.S. Embassy said, drawing to a close an adventure that could have cost him his life.
The mother of Farris Hassan, the prep school junior whom U.S. officials took custody of in Baghdad this week, said she was “grateful” he was headed back. Shatha Atiya said she already knew what her first words would be to her son.
“’Thank God you’re alive,’ then I’ll collapse for a few hours and then sit down and have a long discussion about his consequences,” she said in Fort Lauderdale.
Consul General Richard B. Hermann said Friday that Hassan “safely departed Baghdad.” He reiterated warnings by the State Department and embassy against traveling to Iraq. Forty American citizens have been kidnapped since the war started in March 2003, of whom 10 have been killed, a U.S. official said. About 15 remain missing.
“This young American is now on his way back home to his family in the United States,” Hermann said.
Hassan spoke to The Associated Press early Friday, several hours before the embassy announcement, and he was still under the impression that he would be following his personal travel itinerary, which had him leaving the country by himself on Sunday.
Unaware of celebrity
He hadn’t even been aware that the story of his perilous travels was published around the world — or that his mother was being interviewed on television.
“I don’t have any Internet access here in the Green Zone, so I have no idea what’s going on,” he said.
A military officer accompanying him, who did not identify himself, said it was his task to get Hassan “safe and sound to the United States.”
The embassy refused to release any further details about his travel, and it wasn’t known when he would arrive home in Florida.
Hassan has three older siblings who are all enrolled at universities. A brother, 23-year-old Hayder Hassan, called the trip “absolutely mind-boggling.”
“I just want him back,” he said.
Farris Hassan, who attends Pine Crest School, an academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, left the United States on Dec. 11 and traveled to Kuwait, where he thought he could take a taxi into Baghdad and witness the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections.
'I thought I'd go the extra mile'
A strong history student, Hassan had recently studied immersion journalism — a writer who lives the life of his subject — and wanted to understand better what Iraqis are living through.
“I thought I’d go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles,” he told AP in an interview earlier this week.
The teenager was able to secure an entry visa because both of his parents were born in Iraq, though they’ve been in the United States for more than three decades.
Skipping a week of school, he only told two of his school friends he planned to leave the country. He didn’t tell his parents until he arrived in Kuwait.
“He is very idealistic. He has many convictions. He is very pro-democracy, very compassionate, always helping out others, he’s very driven,” his mother said. “Those are more characteristics of Farris than adventurous. This is the first adventure he’s been on.”
He took his U.S. passport along with $1,800 in cash. He said the money came from a sum of $10,000 his mother had given him after he gave her some stock tips that earned a 25 percent return.
Determined traveller
From Kuwait, a taxi dropped him in the desert at the Iraq border, but he could not cross there because of tightened security ahead of the elections. He went to Beirut, Lebanon, to stay with family friends, and flew from there to Baghdad on Christmas Day.
After his second night in Baghdad, he contacted the AP and said he had come to do research and humanitarian work. The AP called the U.S. Embassy, which sent U.S. soldiers to pick him up.
State Department officials then notified his parents.
The mother, Atiya, said she has a 60-year-old brother in Iraq but that she had refused when her son recently pestered her for his number. She said she offered to take her son to Iraq later, when tensions eased.
“I thought that would be sufficient for him, but he took it upon himself to do this adventure. He has a lot of confidence, but I never thought he would be able to pull this together,” she said.
Hassan does not speak Arabic and has no experience in war zones, but he wanted to find out what life was like there.
'A good kid'
Atiya said her son is studious, works on the school newspaper and is on the debate team. He is a member of a Republican Party club at school and spends his time reading rather than socializing, his mother said.
When school officials learned of Hassan’s trip, they threatened to expel him, but Atiya and Hassan’s father, Redha Hassan, a physician, persuaded officials to allow him to remain, she said. It was not immediately clear why they wanted to expel him.
Julie Schiedegger, who teaches English at Pine Crest, said Friday that she learned Hassan was headed to Iraq about two weeks ago when she overheard some students talking about it.
“He is very bright, friendly, respectful, just a good kid,” she said.
Michael Buckwald, a 17-year-old classmate, said Hassan immerses himself in subjects that he likes and was opinionated in class.
“He always struck me as a very intellectual person. He’s very outspoken at the same time,” Buckwald said.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hassan has three older siblings who are all enrolled at universities. A brother, 23-year-old Hayder Hassan, called the trip “absolutely mind-boggling.”
“I just want him back,” he said.
Farris Hassan, who attends Pine Crest School, an academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, left the United States on Dec. 11 and traveled to Kuwait, where he thought he could take a taxi into Baghdad and witness the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections.
.
Teen's family still waiting for his return from war zone
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A 16-year-old who headed to Iraq on his own has welcomed the New Year in Kuwait City.
Farris Hassan's sister says they talked by phone today. She tells The Associated Press that her brother isn't really aware of the international sensation he's caused by going to Iraq on his own.
Shehnaz Hassan says her brother is scheduled for a return flight on Monday.
He told his family he was O-K and wanted to know what was going on back in the states. He told his sister he saw his mother and brother on television and had no idea there was so much commotion over his trip.
Hassan headed for Iraq without telling his parents on a personal journalism trip.
The State Department has warned Americans not to visit Iraq.
U.S. teen runs off to Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq The mother of a Florida high school student, who went to Iraq alone during his Christmas vacation, says she was "shocked and terrified" when he told her of his plans in a phone call from Kuwait.
Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, had decided to go to the country of his parents' birth, while taking a class on "immersion journalism." That's when a writer lives the life of his subject in order to better understand it. He calls the Iraq war a struggle "between good and evil" and describes terrorists as "pure evil."
In Baghdad, he stayed at an international hotel and says he only strayed far from the hotel once, for food. And after a scary encounter at a nearby shop, he says he decided "it was not a safe place."
After a couple of days, Hassan approached editors at The Associated Press. They notified the U-S embassy, which had been looking for him. He's scheduled to fly out of Baghdad this weekend.
Mother's responds to news of son's departure from Iraq
WAVY-TV
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. The mother of a Florida boy says she's grateful he's out of Iraq. And when she sees him, she plans to give him a hug.
Shatha Atiya (SHAH'-thah ah-TEE'-yah) calls the 16-year-old her "little angel."
U-S Embassy officials say Farris Hassan (FAH'-rihs hah-SAHN') of Fort Lauderdale was put on a flight home today. He had been under their care after being on his own in Iraq for several days.
The teen says he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through. Hassan left the U-S about three weeks ago, telling only two high school friends of his plans.
After his second night in Baghdad, Hasan contacted The Associated Press and said he had come to do research and humanitarian work. The A-P then called the U-S Embassy.
His mother says Hassan is "always helping out others." And she says he's very idealistic.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Farris Hassan, 16, right; his mother, Shatha Atiya, center; and his sister, Shehnaz Hassan, on his return to Miami on Sunday after his trip to Iraq.
Teen who went to Iraq alone back in U.S.
Florida youth traveled to Baghdad on Christmas for journalism project
Updated: 9:51 p.m. ET Jan. 1, 2006
MIAMI, Fla. - A 16-year-old who took off to Iraq alone to experience the lives of its people firsthand, arrived back in Florida on Sunday, ending a three-week Middle East odyssey much to the relief of his parents.
Farris Hassan, who said it all started out as a personal journalism project, was getting a crash course in media as throngs of reporters and photographers waited for him at Miami International Airport.
He smiled and gave a thumbs up before joining his family in a waiting car.
“I do want to tell you how flattered I am. The media has been very, very kind to me,” the teenager told The Associated Press by phone from his father’s car. “I hope to get a good night’s rest.”
Farris had cut school on Dec. 11 and left the United States, traveling to Kuwait, where he thought he could take a taxi into Baghdad to witness the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. The border was closed for the elections, so he went to stay with family friends in Lebanon, before flying to Baghdad on Christmas.
He contacted The Associated Press bureau in Baghdad on Tuesday and related his story.
His goal, he said, was to better understand what the Iraqis are living through. The prep school junior had recently studied immersion journalism, in which the writer lives the life of his subject.
“I thought I’d go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles,” he told the AP last week.
He was able to secure an entry visa for Iraq because both of his parents were born there, though they’ve been in the United States for more than three decades. He took his U.S. passport and $1,800 in cash, but didn’t tell his family what he was doing until he arrived in Kuwait and sent them an e-mail.
Under watch of 101st Airborne
Farris’ long journey home began Friday, when he was put on a military flight from Baghdad to Kuwait, his father said. He spent a day and a half under the watch of the 101st Airborne, the same division that had picked him up from a Baghdad hotel.
A U.S. official then accompanied the teen on a flight from Kuwait to Europe, and from there he flew home to the United States, said his father, Dr. Redha Hassan.
The State Department has warned Americans not to visit Iraq. Forty U.S. citizens have been kidnapped since the war started in March 2003, and 10 of them have been killed, U.S. officials say. About 15 are missing.
Now that he’s back, Farris has some answering to do to some worried adults.
Officials at Pine Crest School, the academy he attends in Fort Lauderdale, have asked for a meeting with his parents before he is allowed to return to class.
His mother, Shatha Atiya, said Sunday that he planned to spend that night at his father’s home.
“He’s very overwhelmed. I don’t think he had any idea about all the media coverage,” she said of her son. She declined to comment further about his journey or the family’s reaction.
Earlier, however,m when asked what would happen when Farris got home, she said: “When he first gets off the plane, I’m going to hug him. Then I’m going to collapse for a few hours, and then we’re going to sit down for a long discussion about the consequences.”
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
