23 March 2004	Tuesday	01 Safar 1425

DOHA, March 22: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to visit Libya on Thursday (March 25), a son of Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi said in an interview to be published here on Tuesday.

"There is military cooperation with Western countries, especially with Britain, whose prime minister will visit Libya on Thursday," Saif al Islam said in an interview with Qatari newspapers.

Libya announced in December, after nine months of secret negotiations with Britain and the United States, that it was abandoning its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Saif al Islam, considered an architect of Libya's reconciliation with the United States, left Doha on Monday after a two-day visit.

The Libyan leader's son told the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat earlier this month that Britain and the United States promised Libya it would reap political, economic and military "gains" if it dismantled its weapons of mass destruction.

He also told the paper that Washington informed Tripoli that diplomatic relations would resume in the next few months. -AFP