Has any body seen him in Charles de Gaulle?
 

I read this article today on CNN.com and could not resist posting this on the forum...perhaps there has already been a post about this, but I did not know that the movie "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks is (sort of) based on the life of this man, who has been living in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle airport for 16 years, "waiting for his passport"! Interesting read, and also interested to know if anyone has actually seen him?
Ha!
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html

I haven't seen HIM, but I have seen a TV-documentary about him, and read a couple of magazine articles with photos. He was still living there about two years ago, I don't know about to-day. Iranian, if I remember right.

I have read articles and news reports of him in the past. I think he is still there and lives and sleeps in the terminal. I believe he is now legal to stay in France but is unable to really mentally leave his current situaltion and probably does not believe he is legal. It's quite a sad story really.

I just read an article about him in my local paper yesterday. He is still there, and as Siobhan said, has been given permission to stay in France but his mental state does not enable him to live outside the airport after being there for so many years. He's no bother to anyone, but he's apparently very confused about his life, even to the point of claiming that he is not Iranian.

The article also stated that Spielberg paid him $390,000 for the use of his story....to some degree of course, because the movie was not really "his story." He said that he would like to go to Hollywood and have someone do his real story just as he's lived it, and he will definitely ask for more money this time. :)

I think he is afraid that he will be arrested if he leaves the terminal as he does not believe he is legal to stay and is worried its a trick. I heard that the staff from various airlines give him their food vouchers and some give him donations and this is how he survives. He seems to have a prisioner mentality and is too afraid to leave his surroundings. I thonk he may be getting hassle or attention with the movie and this may not be the best thing for him and his situation.