SHUNEH, Jordan - The son of Libyan leader Moamar Kadhafi said Friday his country will soon have an embassy in Washington and expected the US to reciprocate, adding the two had "excellent" intelligence cooperation.
"By the end of this year we will have an embassy in Washinton and the United States will have an embassy in Libya," Seif al-Islam Kadhafi told a conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in this Dead Sea resort.
Relations between the former foes have been improving since Tripoli agreed to a settlement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
"We are not close allies but we are not enemies," the younger Kadhafi said of relations with Washington.
"We have an excellent intelligence cooperation," with the United States, he said without elaborating.
On the other hand, he said "the Americans are willing to have military cooperation. We are not enthusiastic about this but we are still considering it."
On the business front, he indicated that his country has a "licence to buy Boeing" planes for Libyan airlines.
Libya also plans to give foreigners licences to invest in the telecommunications sectors "very soon", he said.
As part of its reforms programme Libya also intends to sell five government-controlled banks to the private sector before year end, he said.
"Next month we will sell two banks to the private sector and before the end of the year we will sell three other banks. Therefore the most important five banks will be owned by the private sector," Seif al-Islam said.
He said majority ownership will be held by Libyans while foreigners will be allowed a minority share.
Seif al-Islam, who is seen as a likely successor to his father, brushed aside any such suggestion.
Asked if he will become Libya's next president, he said: "I don't think the Libyan people are going to accept me as the leader ... because I'm nervous. There is no plan for my father to appoint me as a leader."
05/20/2005 12:36 GMT