Candidate for Lebanon PM says he doesn't want post

BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- Lebanon's Transport Minister Najib Mikati was quoted on Wednesday as saying he did not want to be the next prime minister despite being tipped as a likely candidate.

Mikati, a millionaire businessman, emerged as a possible contender for the premiership after a significant victory in last month's parliamentary elections. The post will be decided later in October.

Mikati was seen as the strongest rival to former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who also scored hefty gains in the election and who analysts say is poised to return to office.

But the transport minister -- who is taking up a parliamentary seat for the first time -- told Wednesday's Daily Star English-language newspaper that he would rather focus on his first term in parliament than lead the next government.

"The prime minister's slot is not appropriate for me now," he said. "I want to serve people. I want to serve my country. And I saw how much work needs to be done."

Mikati's comments come days after he met Hariri, whose political bloc and allies won an estimated third of the seats in the 128-seat parliament.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is known to dislike Hariri, a construction tycoon, and secured his ouster in 1998. Lahoud will nominate the premier after consulting the new deputies, who sit on October 17.

Mikati said he would nominate Hariri for prime minister. Mikati received 74,400 votes in his northern constituency of Tripoli -- the highest number of votes for any candidate in the first round of the polls.

The minister heads the Mikati Group, a telecommunications and business conglomerate with investments in Arab states, and was given the ministerial post in 1998. Mikati also has good ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who calls the political shots in Lebanon.

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