Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will take a two-month break after the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit here next month, a senior government official said today.

"He is going o­n a holiday abroad after the NAM summit. It is partly to rest," the official told AFP o­n condition of anonymity. He did not elaborate.

The NAM summit, involving 114 countries, will be held in the capital Kuala Lumpur from Feb 20-25.

On Tuesday, Mahathir told the CNBC cable television network that his deputy and anointed successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would lead the government during his break.

Mahathir, 77, who became Malaysia's fourth prime minister in 1981, has pledged to resign after hosting the Organisation of Islamic Conference summit here in October.