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Dad helped Florida teen get Iraq visa
 Farris Hassan rushes through the airport in Miami, Florida, Sunday. RELATED
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QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSFORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- Farris Hassan, the Florida teen who sneaked off to Baghdad last month, is back with his family after the unauthorized three-week trip to the Middle East. "I just want to hug him. Thank goodness he's alive," his mother, Shatha Atiya, told CNN. Farris, 16, landed at Miami International Airport shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday. His mother met him at the airport and quickly took him to his father's home. He made no comment to reporters after his arrival, and Atiya said, "It's not time to explain anything." "The whole thing is very overwhelming," she said. "We just want to go home and relax." Speaking on CNN's "American Morning" Monday, Atiya said she was "surprised that a minor could get a ticket overseas, international and visas, but I also understand his father helped him a bit." Hassan's father, Redha Hassan, a medical doctor, told CNN that he had helped his son get a visa into Iraq from Beirut. The elder Hassan said he was leaving Iraq himself when the teen called, unable to get into the country from Kuwait. He told him to go to Lebanon and said he spoke with him almost daily. (Route) When asked why he helped, Hassan said his son had come so far by the time he called that he couldn't see not helping him. Redha Hassan and Atiya, who lives in Tampa, are divorced. Farris spends most of his time in Fort Lauderdale, where his father lives. Atiya told CNN Monday that there will be consequences for the unauthorized trip. "We're going to sit down and discuss consequences," she said. "He understands what he put us through, and he's flexible about that." Farris made his way to Baghdad, where he checked into a hotel and last week walked into the Associated Press bureau to volunteer as a reporter. AP staffers contacted the U.S. Embassy, which sent American soldiers to pick up the high-school journalism student. AP writer Patrick Quinn said the teen was "blissfully ignorant of his surroundings and where he was." "Farris walked into the most dangerous city on this planet, especially if you are an unaccompanied American, let alone a teenager who doesn't speak any Arabic," Quinn told CNN. His sister, Shanaz Hassan, said the family was informed Friday night by the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait that the teen had been taken to that country before his return home. In an essay he penned before his journey, Farris expressed his desire to help the people of Iraq and said he felt guilty for living in a large house in South Florida, driving a nice car and hanging out with friends without the fear of suicide bombers. Atiya told CNN Friday that her son had asked her for permission to travel to Iraq immediately "to see it firsthand how are things transpiring in Iraq." "He wanted to see how the people [feel] about democracy and the war in Iraq," she said. "When he heard my negative response, he decided to take things in his own hands, I guess." (CNN Access) The U.S. government advises citizens not to visit Iraq. "The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous," the department's Web site says, citing the risk of kidnapping and murder. "Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue," including in Baghdad's "Green Zone," the travel warning says. CNN's Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report. 
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