Bradford-born Derek Bond, mistakenly labelled a dangerous fugitive by the FBI, today arrived back in Britain and said: "I want to go home and have some peace."

Mr Bond, who was born in Bradford and attended the former Hanson High School in Bradford Moor, landed at Heathrow today and told of his nightmare in South Africa after being arrested.

The 72-year-old was arrested three weeks ago on the orders of the American bureau who mistook him for an alleged conman.

At an emotional press conference at Heathrow, Mr Bond today told how South African President Thabo Mbeki rang to apologise for his ordeal.

The Rotarian, who now lives in Bristol, said he received a call from the president, which he assumed to be the head of Clifton Rotary Club of which he is a member. It turned out to be President Mbeki.

Speaking with a voice cracking with emotion, he said: "Mr Mbeki spoke to me for ten minutes and apologised on behalf of the people of South Africa."

Mr Bond said Mr Mbeki asked him to return to South Africa. "He said: 'This isn't our fault, you will come and have tea with me'."

Mr Bond was questioned at the airport in Cape Town when he arrived on January 27 and was arrested a few days later in a KwaZulu-Natal holiday village. He was taken by police straight to Durban 150 miles away, leaving his wife Audrey to make her own way to follow him.

FBI agents had ordered his arrest on his wine-tasting holiday after Mr Bond's identity was "stolen" and used by a criminal to cover his tracks.

The current suspect, Derek Sykes, was arrested in Las Vegas on Tuesday and was being transferred to Texas where he faces trial for all-eged involvement in a fraud which cost hundreds of vulnerable people their savings.

Mr Bond said at times he feared he would not make it through his incarceration.

"I was put into huge cells with murderers, rapists and drug addicts. At one point I thought: am I going to survive?"

He is considering legal action against the FBI and has discussed his case with a lawyer friend in Cape Town.

The couple's children, Peter, Richard and Gillian, rang their mother each night to make sure she was coping and Gillian flew to Durban for a week to provide support.