THE family of a Yarm student held in Iraq say he is not a terrorist, just an adventurer.

Urslaan Khan, 21, was arrested by a Kurdish group earlier this month on suspicion of trying to join terror group Ansar al-Islam, which has links to al Qaida.

The former pupil of Conyers School in Yarm is being held in the Iraqi town of Erbil, close to the Syrian border.

A third-year undergraduate at Manchester University, he is thought to have travelled to Mosul in northern Iraq after spending time at the University of Alexandria in Egypt, studying Arabic.

His father, Abdul Khan, said: "My son is just an adventurer and would think nothing of jumping on a bus and travelling to a country like that."

Mr Khan confirmed he had received a message from the Foreign Office to say Urslaan was safe and well.

He said: "I had a short conversation with them and was told their British representative has seen him. He passed on a personal message from Urslaan, which said not to worry and he was safe and sound."

He added: "We just have to leave the situation in other people's hands. Of course it's concerning. We don't know when he will be able to come back, but we hope it is before Christmas."

Mr Khan said he did not know why his son was in Iraq and that he and his wife, Sajida, just wanted him home.

The Foreign Office said: "We can't confirm the name of this man, but he is a British national."