London, Jul 15 (IANS): Omar bin Laden, son of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, says his father is alive but maintains he doesn't know his whereabouts.

Omar told The Sun Thursday: "My dad is on the Earth but I don't know where. He's still alive. If that sort of person dies, you could never make it a secret. The world changes if he dies."

He added: "I still love him - of course I do - he's my father. That's a normal human situation. I miss him as a father but we are different. I want peace."

He told the newspaper in an interview in Doha: "My father said the only good thing to come out of America were weapons - like Stinger missiles."

He has split from his wife Zaina, a six-times married grandmother from Britain. Zaina had said that Omar had begun to hear Osama's voice in his head and was suffering from schizophrenia.

Omar says that he wants to call the baby to be born from surrogate mother 24-year-old Louise Pollard - Osama.

"If the baby is a boy I might call him Osama - but I hope he will be peaceful in every respect. It's traditional to use the grandfather's name again.

"I prefer him to be in the Middle East with me. But wherever he is I will take care of him and take care of both his mothers - Louise as well as Zaina because she is carrying my child. She is very pretty."

To a query on voices in his head, he said: "When people get angry and upset they say a lot of things they don't mean. I don't hear voices from my father in my head - but I do dream about him a lot."

Omar was born in Saudi Arabia to Osama's first wife, Najwa. The family moved to Sudan but the Al Qaeda leader was forced to flee as his terror group grew.

In May 1996, he left for the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan. Osama chose Omar to accompany him and to set up terror training camps.

Omar learnt to fire a Kalashnikov rifle and to drive a Russian tank.

"I was his chosen son. He's one of those people who has a magical effect for anyone who sits and listens. He changes minds. They said this also about Hitler. But I didn't follow my father."

Omar fled Afghanistan in April 2001. Months later, 9/11 took place and Osama became the world's most wanted man.