Icelandic teen dupes White House

Vifill Atlason, 16, called the general switchboard number claiming to be the Icelandic leader and asked to speak to President George W Bush.

He was passed around but says he got through to Mr Bush's private secretary and set up a phone meeting with him.

Along the way he says he was asked a series of questions about Mr Grimsson, which he answered using Wikipedia.

"It was like passing through checkpoints, but I had Wikipedia and a few other sites open, so it was not so difficult really," he told ABC News.

Vifill says that among the questions he was asked were Mr Grimsson's date of birth, parent's names, where he grew up and when he took office.

Police visit

Vifill says that Mr Bush's secretary booked him in for a phone meeting with the US president.

Explaining his actions, Vifill told Icelandic daily Morgunbladid that he had just wanted to have a chat with Mr Bush and invite him to Iceland.

"I wasn't rude and was addressed as Mr President by the White House staff over and over again"
Vifill Atlason

"I wasn't rude and was addressed as Mr President by the White House staff over and over again," he said.

The prank has made Vifill something of a celebrity in his home country.

But he never got to have his chat with the president - the White House eventually spotted that something was awry and instead Vifill got a visit from the local police of Akranes, a small fishing town on Iceland's west coast, where he lives.

Nonetheless the teenager is undeterred, saying: "It was totally worth all the fuss."

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