Michael Jackson`s family planned to fly him to Bahrain to escape child molestation case

Jermaine Jackson insisted Michael was unaware of the plot - but is sure he would have agreed to flee America 'in a heartbeat'.

Jermaine, 56, describes in his book, You Are Not Alone: Michael Through A Brother's Eyes, that he made a phone call to guarantee that the private flight to Bahrain, funded by a family friend, was still available.

'I grab the hotel phone and make a call. The person on the other end of the line provides the reassurance that I needed to hear one more time,' he recalls in the book, serialized by UK newspaper The Times. 'All that is required is a day's notice, and this DC8 will have Michael heading east - to Bahrain - to start a new life away from the scam of American justice.

'After this charade, I'm happy to disown my citizenship and take Michael, and his family, to a place where they can't touch him.

'There is no way my brother - an innocent man - is going to jail for this. He wouldn't survive, and I cannot sit back and even contemplate the possibility, let alone the reality.'

In June 2005 Michael was found not guilty of all charges after a four-month trial.