Beau Biden says won't accept father's Senate seat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President-elect Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, says he will not fill his father's U.S. Senate seat but instead will serve in the Iraq war with the Delaware National Guard and then return to his job as the state's attorney general.

"I have not sought and will not accept an appointment to the United States Senate," Joseph "Beau" Biden III said in a press release prepared on Monday.

The younger Biden had been mentioned as a possible replacement in the Senate for his father, who will take office as vice president in Barack Obama's administration on January 20.

Joe Biden must resign his Senate seat and the state governor will name a replacement.

As a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's 261st Signal Brigade, Beau Biden, 39, will deploy to Iraq for about a year. He and his unit traveled to Texas for training in October and will head to Iraq soon.

Biden said he expected to continue as the Delaware attorney general when he returns.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, editing by David Alexander and Sandra Maler)