Michael Jackson was desperate to clone himself.

The King of Pop reportedly became "obsessed" with the idea of creating a "mini-version of himself" after attending a conference on human cloning with spoon bending psychic Uri Geller in Las Vegas in 2002.

Michael's chauffeur Al Bowman, who drove the pair to the event, said: "Jackson was very excited. He bounced out of that conference like a small child. He was smiling and on a high.

"I heard him and Uri talking in the back of the limo. He was talking about the prospect of being cloned. He grabbed Uri by both arms and told him, I really want to do it Uri and I don t care how much it costs.'

The conference was held by Clonaid, the scientific arm of the Raelian movement, a bizarre sect that believes cloning is the key to eternal life.

On its website, the group advertises human cloning services for $200,000 and claims to have already replicated several people.

Michael reportedly contacted them after the conference to enquire about creating his own clone. It is not known whether he went ahead with the process.

Bowman claims Michael - who died last month after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home aged 50 - had been fascinated by the idea of creating a genetic copy of himself for years.

He added to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "I always remember Jackson talking about the cloning of Dolly the sheep in Britain in 1996 - he was totally mesmerised by it. Then when he heard about the Raelians he became utterly convinced this weird religious group could clone humans.

"Michael said he wanted a mini-version of himself cloned to carry on his legacy. He was hoping that Michael Jackson could live for ever."

Michael also showed an interest in being cryogenically frozen before he died, reportedly hoping future generations of doctors would be able to reanimate him.