VISITING KING

Arriving in the U.S. for a five-week visit, his first, the boy King of Iraq, Feisal II.

Born: May 2, 1935 in Bagdad's Palace of Flowers. Son of fast-living, wild-driving King Ghazi who died at 27, bashed against a light pole in an auto accident, after a turbulent, disappointing six-year reign.

Childhood & Education: A king at three, Feisal had a brief fling at toys and tanks, lollipops, Flash Gordon movie serials and Superman comics before growing into a solemn-faced, rather lonely youngster, stuffed full of English, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, French and dynastic history. At 14, donned his father's old school tie and went off to Harrow (Winston Churchill's school). Got along with teachers & classmates, showed no signs of the anti-British feelings his father developed there after three Harrowing years.

Personality: Has a modest manner, a quizzical mind, a pungent tongue. Likes to box, wrestle, ski. At 16, wrote a Judo manual in Arabic, entitled How to Defend Yourself, which became an Iraqi army text and a Bagdad bestseller. So far has shown little interest in politics.

Family Background: He is the leader of the 41st generation of the Hashemite family, founded by the Prophet Mohammed. For 37 generations the family was a slumbering bush-league dynasty. Then Feisal I (Feisal II's grandfather) fought against the Turks with T. E. (Seven Pillars of Wisdom) Lawrence in World War I, dealt deftly with the British and emerged as founder and first King of modern Iraq. He died in 1933. His brother Abdullah with British subsidies made a state out of arid Jordan. An assassin killed him a year ago.

Country & People: 175,000 square miles, largely arid, and some 5,000,000 people, mostly living in diseased, ill-clothed, ill-fed poverty. The infant mortality rate is 500 per 1,000 births. Iraq is strategically important, with estimated oil reserves of 10.5 billion barrels. Needs honest government, land reform.

Purpose of Visit: To size up the U.S., which by default is becoming the No. 1 power in the Middle East. Washington, for its part, wants to give young Feisal a favorable and unforgettable impression of the U.S. before he ascends the throne next May and is boxed in by anti-U.S. advisers.

Itinerary: Reception at New York's City Hall, Ford plant in Detroit, Arizona and California irrigation projects, Hollywood movie studio, aircraft plant, the TVA, luncheon with President Truman, Giants-Dodgers game.

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