Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi's son said his country has no qualms about dealing with Israel because Libya considers itself more African than Arab.

"Our position on Israel is clear," said Saif al-Islam a l-Qadhafi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Jordan.

One of al-Qadhafi's eight children from two wives, Saif al-Islam, is representing Libya at the forum in his capacity as head of the Al-Qadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, a non-governmental organisation.

"When Libya joined with the African nations, we left the Arab-Israeli conflict. When the Palestinians decided to negotiate, we can't be more Palestinian than the Palestinians," he said, implicitly hinting that Libya can deal with the Israelis if Palestinians do.

"I have no problem dealing and speaking with Israelis. Darfur (in Sudan) is more important for me now than Palestine," he said.

In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said his country sought to establish ties with all Arab nations.

"Israel desires to improve our relations with all members of the Arab League. At the moment, we have full diplomatic relations with three Arab League members, and we would be happy to see that number grow," he said, referring to ties with Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania.

He said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom "has invested time, energy and effort in cultivating relations in the Arab world and we are hopeful that these efforts will bear fruit in the near future."

US-Libya relations

Saif al-Islam said Libya's relations with former arch-foe America are "much better than before".

Full diplomatic relations will be upgraded by year's end with a full-capacity embassy in Washington and Tripoli, he declared at a session on Libya, part of discussions at the WEF.

"We have excellent security and intelligence cooperation with them. The Americans are willing to have military cooperation with Libya but we are not enthusiastic about this," he added.

US companies are the most important investors in oil and gas sectors in Libya. US aircraft giant Boeing is now selling planes to the rich North African country.

One state solution?

Saif al-Islam said Libya's White Book, which includes a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, envisions Israel and the Palestinians residing in a one-state, federal system, like "South Africa if that can be realised."

For decades, Libya helped fund and train Palestinian groups to fight Israel. But in the late 1990s, Libya's leader declared that the country was changing its allegiance from Arab causes and turning instead to Africa to develop its political and financial aspirations.

"With Lockerbie, we were able to secure international support and break the ice with the US thanks to the Africans," Saif al-Islam said, referring to efforts by former South African Leader Nelson Mandela to resolve the Lockerbie crisis with the US and Britain in 2003.

Speaking to Aljazeera, son of the Libyan leader, Saif al-Islam also confirmed that authorities in his country would soon release members of the Muslim Brotherhood from Libyan jails.

No to top post

In related news, Saif al-Islam dismissed the notion that he was being groomed by his father to take over the reins of power. "I don't think that the Libyan people are going to accept me as leader maybe because of my personality - sometimes I'm very fast, very radical. I don't think I'm a popular figure in Libya," he said.

"The goal now is to deepen our own democracy in Libya. There's no goal for me or my father to prepare me as the next leader."

Speculation mounted in recent years in many corners of the world after the Libyan leader began giving his son highly visible duties, such as negotiating the release of

hostages, in a bid to prepare him for leadership.

While Saif al-Islam has previously rejected talk of any future succession, his father has rarely played down the notion in public.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: