Jermaine Jackson told a British newspaper that his family had a plan to sneak Michael Jackson out of the country if he was convicted of child molestation in 2005.

They were supposedly going to fly him to Bahrain, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Jermaine speaks more about this in his new book, "You Are Not Alone: Michael Through a Brother's Eyes" . . . which comes out this week.

He writes, quote, "If they were going to sit and crucify my brother for something that he didn't do, America deserves us not to come back here."

But soon after that story broke, Jermaine's rep issued a statement clarifying Jermaine's remarks. He said, quote, "It wasn't an actual plan, because if he was convicted, he would be handcuffed and put in jail.

"It was an idea Michael was unaware of. It was supposed to be demonstrative of how desperate Jermaine was. He felt the justice system was so against Michael.

"He was determined to get him out, he was determined to save him from persecution [if convicted]."