Sharon faces police questioning

Thursday, 30 October 2003 12:00 AM

Ariel Sharon faced more than six hours of questioning by Israeli police today in connection with allegations regarding his financial affairs.

Fraud officers interrogated Mr. Sharon at his official residence in Jerusalem. Reports suggest that no lawyer was present, in a bid to show that the Israeli prime minister has nothing to hide.

It is believed that the police are investigating two separate issues. The first involves attempts by Sharon and his two sons, Omri and Gilad, to repay more than $1m of what were found to have been illegal contributions to Sharon's campaign for election as Likud party leader in 1999.

The second focuses on the nature of the business relationship between Gilad and an Israeli businessman, David Appel, and possible attempts to buy political influence. Gilad Sharon has already been interviewed by the police, but he has apparently failed to co-operate with their investigation.

Allegations of corruption have been a feature of recent Israeli politics with previous prime ministers Ehud Barak and Binyamin Netanyahu having faced similar inquiries - neither case resulted in prosecution. But in 1977, Yitzhak Rabin actually resigned as prime minister because of irregularities in his wife's financial affairs.

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