Libyan Rebels Joined by Fun-Seeking American College Student

For Libyans who rose up against now-deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi, the rebellion has been a perilous quest for liberty that has cost many lives.

For 21-year-old University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) student Chris Jeon, it's a great finish to summer vacation.

Jeon purchased a one way ticket to Cairo for $800 and then snuck across the border into Libya. He speaks no Arabic and is living off the hospitality of strangers who have given him a place to stay.

I just go and see what happens, he said. At spring break I told my friends a sick vacation would be to come here and fight with the rebels.

At first, Jeon apparently amused the rebels enough that they let him use their weapons. He requested to go to Sirte, where the rebels plan to attack if Gadhafi loyalists there do not surrender.

How do you fire this thing? he asked when a rebel handed him an AK-47, subsuquently firing a couple of rounds into the air.

The novelty may have worn off, however. An Al-Jazeera English correspondent said in a Twitter posting that the rebels had asked Jeon to leave, noting that he was seen on a pickup truck bound for Benghazi.