York author and street entertainer Michael Todd landed at Teesside Airport after three weeks as a prisoner in a US military camp. Richard Edwards met him.

"IS THIS England?" asked a confused Michael Todd, also known as Michael Mime, as he left the arrivals lounge at Teesside Airport.

It had been four months since he left the UK and headed for Iraq to search for his missing daughter.

But the last 21 days of those four months were spent as a US prisoner, under suspicion of being a terrorist.

He says the experience was at times "a living hell" - saying the orange boiler suit, like those used on death row, made him fear the worst.

"I thought we were off to Guantanamo Bay," he says.

Arriving back in the UK, Michael says he was instantly struck by the lack of weapons, military machinery, the greenery - and the clouds. He said: "There are no clouds in Baghdad, it is really strange. People say Saddam stole them."

Most of Michael's time in captivity was spent under armed guard at Baghdad Airport.

After his early experiences - when he claims he was kicked to the floor and punched, bound in plastic handcuffs and had a bag put over his head - Michael says he was treated well and was able to befriend his captors.

Many have written him messages and given him their email addresses to stay in touch.

He said: "I used humour and positive thinking to get through it.

"I did a lot of sitting on my bed, but I was able to write a lot. Eventually I was able to write all day, something I love doing."

Throughout his captivity, Michael had been visited by British Consular staff.

Eventually he got the visit he had been waiting for, when diplomat Richard Webb came to say he was to be freed.

Michael said: "He had been asking and asking why I was being held. The Americans didn't have an answer. Eventually they realised they had to let me go."

Michael's story doesn't end here. As well as planning to continue the search for his daughter, Michael is taking advice on legal action against the US for his detention.

"I'd like to serve a writ on George Bush," he said.

"If someone can go to a country, with a heart full of love looking for his daughter, and end up a POW, there is something seriously wrong."

Updated: 08:48 Monday, August 04, 2003