Gaddafi denies grooming son

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi played down speculation that he is grooming his son to replace him, telling a New Year's Eve TV talk show Friday that succession is not part of his North African republic's political makeup.

"There is no succession in the (Libyan) republic's regime," the 61-year-old Gaddafi said when asked by a presenter from the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network whether his son, Saif Al Islam Gaddafi, will succeed him. Since staging a 1969 coup, the elder Gaddafi has run Libya with an iron fist, outlawing all forms of opposition under the guise of handing power to his country's five million people.

But in recent years, speculation has mounted that Gaddafi has been providing his 32-year-old son with highly visible duties, such as negotiating the release of hostages and organising the payment of compensation to relatives of victims from terrorist attacks blamed on Libya, in a bid to prepare his son for eventual Libyan leadership.

While Saif Al Islam, one of Gaddafi's eight children from two wives, has previously rejected talk of any future succession, his father has rarely gone public to play down the notion.

When he came to power, Gaddafi proclaimed a "popular revolution" and began imposing "peoples' committees" as local levels of government, headed by a "People's Congress," the Libyan equivalent of a parliament. He declared Libya to be a Jamahiriya, a word he coined to mean "republic of the masses."

Wearing a brown hat and similarly coloured traditional Libyan gown during the live interview, Gaddafi renewed his criticism of what he described as a lack of Arab unity in the Middle East. "The relationship between Libya and Italy is one thousand times better than its relations with Egypt, its sister," he said during the interview conducted between Libya and the station's Doha studios.

"Relations between Tunisia and Germany are a thousand times better than its (Tunisia's) relations with Libya." The Libyan leader described the pan-regional 22-member Arab League, which Gaddafi has previously threatened to withdraw from, as a "mockery," saying "there is no respect for any resolution from the Arab League."

He dismissed suggestions that Tripoli needed help to repair relations with Saudi Arabia after Riyadh recalled its ambassador over allegations of a plot to kill the kingdom's crown prince. Gaddafi blamed what he said were baseless US press reports for the spat. Saudi newspapers called Gaddafi "rash" and "mad" last week over what Riyadh has said was a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.