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The sky's the limit for extreme sports fan who aims to be

Iraq's first man in space

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 May 2009

Michael Howard in Baghdad

He has been hailed as Iraq's superman: a role model for the nation's

youth who flies, glides, dives and races motorcycles. He has already

made the Guinness World Records by taking part in the first ever

skydive above Mount Everest. But last week Fareed Lafta, a Dubai-based

extreme sports fanatic, returned to Baghdad to seek backing for his

ultimate ambition – to be the first Iraqi in space

"I want to represent my country, and to be one of the men like

Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin, who showed with all humility

what it is to be a good human," said Iraq's pioneer cosmonaut

Fareed has been addicted to adventure since he was a boy. "I would climb to the top of the cupboard in my bedroom and jump off. My mum got mad and punished me because I made a mess of my room. But it was the informal start of my career, aged five. My parents still think I'm crazy."

Raised in Baghdad, he left with his family for Dubai at the outbreak of war in 2003. There he continued a boyhood passion for motorcycle racing, quickly turning professional. He also became a scuba diving instructor and started free diving, achieving a lung-busting depth of 80 meters. He then took to the air, hang-gliding and paragliding to an international standard and gaining a private pilot's license