The Associated Press news agency reports an unaccompanied American boy strode into their offices in Iraq this week, saying he was in the country to do research and humanitarian work.
Sixteen-year-old Farris Hassan says he went to Iraq without his parents' permission in order to pursue his interest in news reporting, cultivated in a high school journalism class.
The student from Florida bought a $900 plane ticket, skipped school, and left the United States on December 11th, arriving in Iraq on a flight from Lebanon.
The AP reports the boy's parents are from Iraq, but have lived in the United States for more than 30 years.
Farris speaks only English and called attention to himself with his trendy Western attire. He says his travels took him to Kuwait, Lebanon and Baghdad.
When the boy introduced himself to AP journalists, they immediately called the U.S. Embassy. Officials had been looking for the teen, at his parents' request after he called them from Kuwait City.
Embassy officials took custody of the boy, who is scheduled to return to the United States in the next few days.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
