A MOTHER whose millionaire son has been held in an Arab jail for more than a year without charge is hoping a massive publicity campaign will prompt his release. George Atkinson, who designed the award-winning Emirates Golf Club and founded the prestigious Desert Classic Golf Tournament, was imprisoned in Dubai twelve months ago after he refused to sell the rights of the professional golf tournament to the Arab country. Now his mother, Mrs Louise Atkinson of Edenfield near Bury, is calling for British officials to step up the campaign for his release.

Mrs Atkinson has only spoken to her son four or five times since his arrest, and last heard from him on Boxing Day, when he telephoned her Croft Acres home.

She said: "I just filled up when he called. It was quite emotional. We were hoping to have him home before Christmas, but every month he is detained for another 30 days.

"We don't know what conditions he is being kept in, or even if it is a proper prison."

Mr Atkinson's wife Helene is helping co-ordinate the fight for her husband's freedom.

Since its conception, the PGA Desert Classic has become one of the richest in the world and a major event in the PGA calendar. Mr Atkinson, 46, is also responsible for landscaping the Sheikh of Dubai's palace grounds, and the city airport.

But trouble began when Arab officials demanded the exclusive rights of the hugely successful Desert Classic from Mr Atkinson, who had lived in Dubai for 11 years.

He refused, and in 1994 returned to London to sue the PGA European Tour for £4 million for breach of contract, after it allegedly signed a new deal without him to run the competition with Dubai.

He was arrested last March after visiting Dubai to watch the Desert Classic and gather evidence.

The father-of-two is accused of making illegal payments to a government employee and over-charging to build a golf course. The alleged offences were said to have been committed up to six years before his arrest.

Local petitions have been sent to the Houses of Parliament, and since September, Mr Atkinson's daughter Alice has hand-delivered letters every week to 10 Downing Street, asking for the Prime Minister's intervention.

The family have also appealed to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and have met with Foreign Office Minister Baroness Simons.

Mrs Atkinson said: "All we can do is hope and pray."

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