President Aliyev has heart problems

Mr Aliyev, 80, was admitted to Ankara's military hospital last month with heart problems.

The television channel CNN Turk quoted anonymous hospital sources as saying Mr Aliyev's condition was critical and that he was sometimes losing consciousness.

But Turkey's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ahmet Unal Cevikoz, visited the president while he was in Ankara and said his health was improving by the day.

Azeri officials have strongly denied reports of a deterioration and say he has gone to the US only to continue medical checks.

He is expected to go to a clinic in Ohio where he has already been treated several times.

Mr Aliyev's health has been the subject of intense speculation in recent days and there have even been rumours that he had died during his treatment in Ankara.

Known as "baba" (grandfather) to many Azeris, Mr Aliyev became a KGB and Communist Party chief in the 1960s.

Dynasty

Parliament in the oil-rich former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan elected his 41-year old son Ilham as prime minister on Monday.

The move appears designed to cement the first dynastic succession in the former Soviet Union, as the 80-year-old president puts his son in line to take over if he becomes incapacitated.

However, the opposition rejected parliament's overwhelming vote to approve Ilham Aliyev as prime minister.

"We believe this is an attempt to put into effect a neo-monarchist scenario in Azerbaijan, and we are confident that this... will not succeed," Isa Gambar of the opposition Musavat party told Russian TV.