Heydar Aliyev, the ailing 78-year-old president of Azerbaijan, insisted in an interview on Friday that he was fit enough to run the country for several years to come.
Foreign investors in this often unruly former Soviet republic fear chaos if Aliyev, seen as the guarantor of stability, should die or be forced to step down because of his failing health.
"I think I will live for many years and stay at the helm of Azerbaijan," he said in an interview published in an official newspaper. "I have not the slightest doubt about that."
"For that reason I don't think too often about the future. You only think about that sort of thing when you have, say, one year to live. But the Almighty has preserved me and will continue to preserve me."
Aliyev, who had heart bypass surgery in 1999 and is now rumoured to have diabetes, said he felt "wonderful," and added that his doctors "think I am in very good health."
Political stability in Azerbaijan is key for the Western energy companies which have invested billions of dollars (euros) in developing oil and gas fields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea.
Aliyev said last month that he would stand for a third term in office in the 2003 presidential elections.
Aliyev's 39-year-old son has been touted as a potential successor but neither he nor other figures are seen as having the authority and stature to keep order in Azerbaijan -- BAKU (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
