WASHINGTON -- Mounzer Fatfat left war-torn Lebanon in 1975 to build a life in America. He was 17, and he eventually assembled a successful clothing business in West Mifflin, moved into a comfortable home in Scott and worked his way through bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Pittsburgh.

Six years ago, Fatfat left the prosperous life he had so carefully constructed in Western Pennsylvania to return to societies shattered by war, first as the United Nations Minister of Youth for Kosovo and, since October, as the top U.S. adviser in Iraq to the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Fatfat quickly learned to appreciate the central challenge young Iraqis face. His hotel, the Al-Rashid, was hit by rockets within days of his arrival in Baghdad. Four rooms adjacent to his were destroyed.

"If I hadn't been at an economic summit in Spain, I likely would've lost my life," Fatfat said during an interview last week in Washington, where he was meeting with Pentagon officials and soliciting corporate donations for the youth and sports centers he oversees. "For three, four weeks, I slept in my office. Now I'm in a trailer."

Asked if he now felt more secure in Iraq, Fatfat said, "No." When he ventures out, he wears full body armor and is accompanied by a security detail. Young Iraqis have no such protection.

Fatfat supervises some 3,000 employees in the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The ministry oversees 161 youth centers and 230 sports centers, all of which were sacked, looted and otherwise stripped bare after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, he said. None have been reopened.

" Everything that wasn't nailed down was taken or broken: light bulbs, wiring, door frames, not to mention sports equipment, nets, soccer and basketballs," Fatfat said. "We have started retrofitting these centers but we need more corporate sponsorships for equipment to finish the job."

He said his efforts are focused on 15-to-25-year-olds, who make up about 60 percent of the total population

"Unemployment in this group is very high, about 70 percent. ... The idea is to get them involved in activities that are wholesome, healthy, time-consuming and fun, and to keep them from being pulled away by religious extremists," he said.

Fatfat says he is unable to get out in the field and must stick to his office in the U.S. high security zone, called the Green Zone. He said the ministry was busy training and educating staff that will eventually run its youth and sports centers.

He considers the recent democratic elections in 500 townships to choose Olympic representatives (who will select the athletes who represent Iraq at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens) a major accomplishment.

Under Saddam, he said, the ministry of sports and culture "was among the most corrupt, brutal and politically difficult." Saddam's eldest son, Uday, routinely tortured and beat athletes if he judged their performance to be below par, and he ran the sports ministry as a personal fief dominated by blackmail, cronyism and bribes, Fatfat said. The elections to the Olympic Committee, he said, restored some control of sports to the people and the athletes of Iraq.

Iraq plans to send seven teams -- wrestling, weight lifting, boxing, swimming, soccer, track and field, and tai-kwon-do to Athens, he said.

Fatfat said his task in Iraq is tougher than it was in Kosovo. "The biggest difference is that, in Kosovo, the people wanted us there, whereas in Iraq, they look at us and see 'invaders,' 'occupiers.' I tell them you are the luckiest of all the Arab countries, because now you are in charge of your own future."

He went on to say that as U.S. forces restore reliable electricity and improve health, education and other services, more Iraqis are coming to see "the U.S. is on their side."

Fatfat's family has remained in Western Pennsylvania.

"Of course, my wife, son, Ray [13], and daughter, Jenna [16], worry about me. But they understand and accept what I am doing. They know that I am helping Iraq. And we stay in touch by e-mail and by talking on the phone every few days."