YORK street entertainer Michael Mime was arrested by US soldiers in Iraq because he was trying to cross the border into Turkey, American officials have confirmed.

Mime, whose real name is Michael Todd, 33, is expected to be released very soon after his arrest in Northern Iraq on July 4.

He is being held in Baghdad.

A spokesman for the coalition forces said: "He was detained because he was trying to cross the border into Turkey and we did not know why. Everything he has told us checks out and we expect him to be released shortly."

Mr Todd headed for the Middle East in February, saying he was on a mission to spread "unconditional love" to the war-torn country, and took hundreds of soft toys donated to Iraqi children by York residents.

Mr Todd then claimed he was trying to trace his estranged Iraqi girlfriend, known only as Abla, and their daughter, 19-month-old Sajida. Last month Mr Todd turned up in Turkey when he told reporters that Abla had been killed in the Allied bombing of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

But he said the Turkish government allowed him to enter northern Iraq and he was determined to continue his quest to find his daughter.

Updated: 10:44 Thursday, July 24, 2003