'British helped my father escape jail'

British diplomats and the Church of England have helped a former right-hand man to Yasser Arafat escape to London after being held for more than a year without trial by the Palestinian Authority.

Anti-corruption campaigner Jaweed al-Ghussein also claimed the Israeli authorities were involved in his escape after he was put in a Gaza jail by Arafat's security forces.

His flight was masterminded by his daughter, Mona Bauwens, the socialite and writer who led to the downfall of David Mellor.

Today Mr al-Ghussein, former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Authority's financial arm, said: "I'm very pleased to be back with my family in the UK and I'm looking forward to carrying on my life and carryingon my fight against corruption-in the PA. It's the first duty of every Palestinian."

The 71-year-old was today celebrating his safe return with his wife, daughter Mona and son Tawfiq, 40, at the family's Mayfair home after an escape worthy of a spy novel.

He was first seized by Arafat's men on 22 April last year after being cleared of financial irregularities by the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates.

Mr al-Ghussein claims Arafat's Force17 guards flew him on the Palestinian president's private plane to Egypt, from where he was driven across the border to Gaza. He claims to have been held there under armed guard until pleading by Ms Bauwens resulted in Arafat allowing him to go to Cairo for medical treatment last November.

But Ms Bauwens claims her father was abducted for a second time by Palestinian security forces on 3 January and taken back to Gaza.

It was only after she lobbied the UN and Amnesty International to put pressure on Arafat to release her father that he was allowed to leave Gaza for a hospital in Palestiniancontrolled East Jerusalem to seek treatment for diabetic and heart problems.

It was here on three occasions that the Archbishop of Canterbury's Middle East envoy, Canon Andrew White, asked Arafat to release Mr al-Ghussein. In the meantime the Jordanian government gave Mr al-Ghussein a passport allowing him to travel freely, while the British Home Office issued him with a visa to enter the UK.

British rabbi Hershel Glock also successfully lobbied the Israeli government to let Mr al-Ghussein and Ms Bauwens leave from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on a flight to Britain rather than risk the journey across land via Jordan.

Ms Bauwens said: "It's great to have my father back in the UK. He was kidnapped by that thug Arafat and we only managed to get him out with the help of the Jordanian and British governments, the Church of England, the UN and the Israeli authorities."